IN  THiiiliiil    I       j      i 


TEACHING  OF  JESUS 


BS  2415  R65  1906  c.l 
Robertson,  A.  T.,  1863-1934 
Keywords  in  the  teaching  of 
Jesus 


Cof:>y      I 


KEYWORDS 

IN  THE 

TEACHING  OF  JESUS 


KEYWORDS 


IN  THE 


TEACHING  OF  JESUS 


'  BY 

A.  T.  ROBERTSON,  D.  D. 

Professor  of  New  Testament  Interpretation  in  the 
Southern  Baptist  Theological  Seminary 


AUTHOR  OF 


"Life  and  Letters  of  John  A.  Broadus  " 

"Teaching  of  Jesus  Concerning  God  the  Father" 

"Student's  Chronological  New  Testament" 

"Critical  Notes  to  Broadus'  Harmony  of  the  Gospels" 

etc. 


PHILADELPHIA 

amerlcan  asaptlst  publication  Sodctg 


Copyright  igo6  by  the 
American  Baptist  Publication  Society 


Published  April,  1906 


jfrom  tbe  Society's  own  press 


Zo 


THE    MEMORY    OF 

MY    MOTHER    WHO    TAUGHT 

ME   TO    LOVE   JESUS 


PREFACE 

The  seven  chapters  in  this  little  book  were  de- 
livered as  lectures  to  the  Jackson  Springs  Sum- 
mer Assembly,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Baptist 
State  Convention  of  North  Carolina,  in  the  last 
week  of  June,  1904.  They  are  published  practi- 
cally as  they  were  delivered  and  at  the  request  of 
the  Assembly.  Many  delightful  memories  come 
thronging  my  mind  as  I  now  write,  memories  of 
the  wood  robins  caroling  in  the  pine  trees  as  I 
tried  to  talk  to  a  large  and  deeply  spiritual  and 
sympathetic  audience  about  the  words  of  Jesus. 
If  a  still  larger  audience  can  be  led  to  earnest 
study  of  the  Master's  teaching,  this  volume  will 
not  be  in  vain.  These  seven  lectures  are  not 
an  exhaustive  discussion  of  the  teaching  of  Christ. 
No  book  is  that,  but  this  one  only  claims  to  set 
forth  the  main  points  in  Christ's  teaching  around 
which  the  rest  clings. 

The  first  chapter  discusses  the  same  theme  as 
the  author's  book,  "The  Teaching  of  Jesus  Con- 
cerning God  the  Father,"  American  Tract  Society, 
New  York,  1904.  It  is  not,  however,  a  copy  of 
that  book,  nor  a  mere  condensation  of  it,  but  an 


Vlll  PREFACE 

entirely  independent  treatment,  though  the  same 
theological  position  is  taken. 

Mary  chose  to  sit  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  and 
learn  of  him.  That  is  the  place  for  every  disciple 
of  the  Lord. 

A.  T.  Robertson. 

Louisville,  Ky. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I  PAGE 

God  the  Father ii 

CHAPTER  H 
The  Son 25 

CHAPTER  HI 
Sin 41 

CHAPTER  IV 
The  Kingdom 56 

CHAPTER  V 
Righteousness 78 

CHAPTER  VI 
The  Holy  Spirit 93 

CHAPTER  VII 
The  Future  Life 109 


Keywords  in  the  teaching 

OF  JESUS 

CHAPTER  I 

GOD    THE    FATHER 

"He  that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father"  (John  14:9). 

Jesus  is  the  great  Teacher  of  all  time.  There 
had  been  great  teachers  before  him,  Confucius, 
Buddha,  Zoroaster,  Socrates.  Each  taught  many- 
high  and  noble  ideals.  Each  left  a  strong  mark 
on  the  life  of  men.  Great  teachers  have  come 
since  the  time  of  Jesus,  some  who  show  no  trace 
of  his  influence,  as  Epictetus  and  Marcus  Aurelius. 
We  would  detract  naught  from  the  glory  of  these 
men.  But  when  all  is  said,  the  Teacher  of  teachers 
is  Jesus.  His  words  alone  always  proclaim  eternal 
principles.  Truth  is  axiomatic,  if  it  is  fundamen- 
tal. Jesus  dared  to  say  that  he  was  the  Truth. 
No  other  man  can  say  that  and  tell  the  truth. 
The  significant  thing  is  that  men  recognize  that 
this  claim  is  true.  His  kingdom,  as  he  said  to 
Pilate,  is  that  of  truth.     This  is  his  realm.     This 


12         KEYWORDS    IN    THE   TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

is  not  the  main  thing  that  Jesus  came  to  do,  to 
teach  the  truth.  What  he  did  is  more  than  what 
he  said.  What  he  is,  is  more  than  either.  He  was 
not  a  mere  teacher,  however  great.  Let  us  never 
forget  that.  Preaching  and  practice  with  him  were 
not  separated.  And  preaching  with  him  was  teach- 
ing. He  was  no  mere  setter-forth  of  orthodox 
phrases,  no  mere  stickler  for  the  forms  of  faith,  the 
shell  of  truth.  In  fact  he  was  the  ruthless  iconoclast 
of  his  day,  the  foe  of  mere  ceremonial  observance. 
Jesus  is  the  supreme  example  of  the  superiority  of 
spirit  over  form.  Hear  him  as  he  says :  "  It  is  the 
spirit  that  giveth  life ;  the  flesh  profiteth  nothing : 
the  words  that  I  have  spoken  unto  you  are  spirit, 
and  are  life  "  (John  6  :  63).  This  is  the  chief  dif- 
ference between  Jesus  and  all  other  teachers.  The 
words  of  Jesus,  then,  are  the  Pierian  spring  from 
which  men  love  to  drink.  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son, 
in  whom  I  am  well  pleased;  hear  ye  him"  (Matt. 
17:5).  Thus  the  Father  spoke  to  Peter,  James, 
and  John  on  the  mount  of  Transfiguration. 

The  first  word  in  time  and  importance  that  we 
have  from  the  new  Teacher  is  about  the  Father. 

He  was  only  twelve  years  old  and 
^"rathef  ^     had  been  left  behind  in  the  temple 

in  Jerusalem.  When  Joseph  and 
Mary  sought  him  sorrowing,  he  said  in  surprise, 
'•  Knew  ye   not  that  I  must  be  in    my  Father's 


GOD    THE    FATHER  13 

house  ? "  (Luke  2  :  49.)  Here  for  the  first  time 
the  growing  boy  with  dawning  Messianic  conscious- 
ness speaks  out  the  throbbing  secret  of  his  heart. 
He  must.  The  necessity  is  on  him.  And  it  is 
"my  Father's  house."  He  sustains  a  special 
relation  to  God  the  Father  that  is  not  true  of  other 
men.  The  first  word  is  the  key-word  to  his  after- 
life and  teaching.  He  goes  back  to  his  Nazareth 
home  and  works  obediently  and  humbly  till  his 
"hour"  of  manifestation  comes.  When  the  hour 
does  strike  and  Jesus  comes  out  of  the  baptismal 
water  praying,  he  hears  the  Father  say:  "Thou 
art  my  beloved  Son ;  in  thee  I  am  well  pleased  " 
(Luke  3  :  22). 

The  Father  has  formally  and  perhaps  publicly 
acknowledged  him  as  his  Son.  The  boy  of  twelve 
had  not  been  mistaken.    The  Father 

has  called  him  his  own  Son.     He   The  Father  of 

Jesus 
will  boldly  claim  God  as   his  own 

Father,  in  a  sense  not  true  of  others.     True  the 

devil  challenges  this  claim  by  saying  in  the  first 

temptation,  "T/'thou  art  a  Son  of  God  "  (Greek  text, 

Matt.  4  :  3).     But  Jesus  does  not  doubt.     The  first 

time  he  comes  to  Jerusalem  he  cries  :  "  Make  not 

my  Father's  house  a  house  of  merchandise  "  (John 

2  :  16).     On  his  second  visit  to  Jerusalem  during 

his  ministry,  he  justifies  his  right  to  heal  on  the 

Sabbath    day   by   calmly   saying :     "  My   Father 


14         KEYWORDS    IN    THE   TEACHING    OF  JESUS 

worketh  even  until  now,  and  I  work  "  (John  5:17). 
The  Pharisees  are  enraged,  charging  him  with 
making  himself  equal  with  God,  but  Jesus  main- 
tains his  claim  by  an  extended  apologetic.  Later 
in  his  Galilean  ministry  he  will  even  say :  "  All 
things  have  been  delivered  unto  me  of  my  Father" 
(Matt.  1 1  :  27).  He  claims  also  that  no  one 
"  knoweth  the  Father  save  the  Son,  and  he  to 
whomsoever  the  Son  willeth  to  reveal  him  "  {ibid.). 
"I  and  the  Father  are  one"  (John  10  :  30),  he 
asserts  at  the  feast  of  Dedication.  ♦'  Thou  makest 
thyself  God,"  his  enemies  retort.  Thus  it  goes  to 
the  end.  This  word  of  Jesus  about  the  Father 
angers  the  Pharisees  beyond  measure.  But  he 
dies  with  this  high  claim  on  his  lips  :  "  Father, 
into  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit "  (Luke 
23  :  46). 

Jesus  is  able  to  reveal  the  Father  to  whomso- 
ever he  wills  (Matt.  1 1  :  27).     Others,  then,  can 
know  the  Father  and  be  his  chil- 
The  Father  of   (jj-gn ;    not,   however,    in  the    same 

All  who  Believe  ^1.  4.    t  •     u-     c  tj 

.J  sense  that  Jesus  is  his  Son.      He 

taught   men  to  say  :    "  Our  Father 

which  art  in  heaven,  hallowed  be  thy  name  "  (Matt. 

6  :  9).      But  not   all  are  children  of  God  in  the 

sense  of  actual  enjoyment  of  spiritual  blessings. 

The  younger  son  had  gone   into    a  far  country. 

When  he  came  to  himself  he  said :  "  I  will  arise 


GOD    THE    FATHER  I  5 

and  go  to  my  father"  (Luke  15  :  18).  But  he 
knows  that  he  is  no  more  worthy  to  be  called  a 
son.  He  says  frankly :  "  Father,  I  have  sinned 
against  heaven,  and  in  thy  sight."  This  confession 
is  the  hard  thing  to  say,  and  this  is  why  so  many 
men  never  become  Christians.  But  this  is  the 
only  way  to  come  back  to  the  Father.  Jesus  put 
the  divine  side  of  the  great  initial  spiritual  change 
thus  to  Nicodemus  :  "  Except  a  man  be  born  anew, 
he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God  "  (John  3  :  3). 
There  is  then  a  line  of  cleavage  between  men. 
Some  are  without,  some  are  within  the  kingdom 
of  God.  But  all  who  are  within  had  to  "enter  the 
kingdom."  Indeed,  Jesus  flatly  told  the  Pharisees 
of  Jerusalem  that  God  was  not  their  Father.  '•  Ye 
are  of  your  father,  the  devil  "  (John  8  :  44). 

The  sinner  is  not  like  the  beast  of  the  field. 
He  was  made  in  the  image  of  God,  and  that  like- 
ness was  a  spiritual  likeness.     God 
is  the  Father  of  our  spirits  as  well     But  in  One 
as  of  our  bodies  (Heb.  12  :  9).    We  SenseGodisthe 
are  indeed,  rebellious  children.    We  j^^^ 

have  left  the  Father's  home  and 
spurned  the  Father's  love.  We  are  practically 
outcast  children,  but  outcast  not  by  the  Father's 
wish.  We  have  made  it  impossible  for  the  Father 
to  deal  with  us  as  sons.  We  are  subjects  of  the 
just   wrath  of   the   Father.      We  are   by  nature 


1 6         KEYWORDS    IN   THE   TEACHING   OF   JESUS 

sinful,  as  Jesus  implies  by  his  insistence  on  the 
necessity  of  the  new  birth.  If  we  knew  the  hor- 
rible reality  of  sin,  we  could  understand  how  the 
Father  cannot  let  the  unrepentant  sinner  belong 
to  his  family.  But  there  is  a  hope  for  the  sinner. 
He  still  has  a  spiritual  nature,  however  blurred. 
He  is  still  kin  to  God  and  is  open  to  the  work  of 
the  Spirit  of  God,  else  all  hope  would  be  lost.  It 
is  not  enough  to  be  the  child  of  Abraham  by 
descent  and  actually  a  child  of  the  devil.  The 
real  child  of  Abraham  is  the  spiritual  descendant. 
So  the  lost  child  must  be  found,  the  dead  must 
come  to  life  again. 

Jesus  builds  his  teaching  on  the  Old  Testament. 

He  commended  the  Jews  for  reading  the  Scriptures, 

for  they  "  bear  witness  of  me"  (John 

The  Old  Testa-  5  .  39).     in  the  Old  Testament  God 

the  Father  ^^  ^^^  Father  in  the  sense  of  Creator 
of  all.  He  is  also  the  Father  of 
Israel  in  a  special  sense.  He  is  the  King  of  the 
kingdom  of  Israel  and  the  Father  of  the  family. 
What  the  Jews  failed  to  understand  was  that  the 
spiritual  Israel  was  the  real  Israel,  the  spiritual 
kingdom  the  real  kingdom  of  God.  Thus  the 
Gentiles  as  well  as  the  Jews  really  became  children 
of  the  Father.  "  Ye  offspring  of  vipers  "  (Matt. 
12  :  34),  Jesus  called  the  Pharisees  who  plumed 
themselves  on  being  children  of  Abraham.     "  If 


GOD    THE    FATHER  1/ 

ye  were  children  of  Abraham,  ye  would  do  the 
works  of  Abraham  "  (John  8  :  39).  So  John  the 
Baptist  said  :  "Think  not  to  say  within  yourselves, 
we  have  Abraham  for  our  Father  :  for  I  say  unto 
you  that  God  is  able  of  these  stones  to  raise  up 
children  unto  Abraham"  (Matt.  3  :  9). 

This  is  the  most  distinctive  word  that  Jesus  has 
to  offer  as  a  teacher  of  men.  He  has  new  light 
to  give  about  God.  It  is  the  same 
kind  of  light  that  they  already  had  The  New  Light 
in  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures.  abouUheFather 
But  their  own  traditions  and  ser- 
mons had  darkened  this  light.  Socrates  was  put 
to  death  by  the  Athenians  for  new  doctrine  about 
strange  divinities,  so  they  charged.  Will  the  Jews 
stand  new  light  from  Jesus  about  God  ?  This  is 
precisely  the  trouble  with  the  ancient  Pharisees 
and  their  modern  representatives.  They  are 
encased  in  a  shell  of  ignorant  omniscience.  In 
fact,  says  Jesus  :  "  Ye  do  err,  not  knowing  the 
Scriptures  nor  the  power  of  God  "  (Matt.  22  :  29). 
He  knows  "who  the  Father  is"  (Luke  10  :  22). 
And  no  one  else  has  seen  the  Father  (John  6  :  46). 
"Lord,  shew  us  the  Father,  and  it  sufificeth  us" 
(John  14  :  8),  Philip  pleaded.  So  it  will.  T/iat 
is  the  acme  of  wisdom,  to  know  God.  Hear  Jesus 
again  :  **  O  righteous  Father,  the  world  knew  thee 
not,  but  I  knew  thee ;  and  these  know  that  thou 


1 8  KEYWORDS    IN    THE    TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

didst  send  me ;  and  I  made  known  unto  them  thy 
name,  and  will  make  it  known,  that  the  love 
wherewith  thou  lovest  me  may  be  in  them  and  I 
in  them  "  (John  17  :  25  f.).  Once  more  he  says: 
"  I  glorified  thee  on  the  earth  "  (John  17  :  4). 

Jesus  claims    to   know  the  way.     What  is  it  ? 

It  is  simple  and  plain  :    •'  /  am  the  way  "  (John 

14  :  6).      He   is   the  way   to   the 

The  Way  to    Father,     When  Thomas  was  at  a 

Father  ^'^^^'  ^^^^  ^^^  ^^^^  answer.  He  adds : 
"  No  one  cometh  to  the  Father,  but 
by  me"  (John  14  :  6).  He  is  not  merely  a  way; 
he  is  t//e  only  way.  Herein  lies  the  supreme  value 
of  Christianity,  It  offers  Jesus  to  men,  the  only 
way  to  God  the  Father.  Here  is  the  call  for 
mission  effort  at  home  and  abroad.  Here  is 
the  incentive  for  evangelical  work,  for  educa- 
tional effort,  for  pressing  Christ  on  the  hearts  of 
men,  for  said  Jesus,  "  He  that  honoreth  not  the 
Son  honoreth  not  the  Father  which  sent  him  " 
(John  5  :  23).  When  Philip  doubted,  Jesus  re- 
plied :  "  Have  I  been  so  long  time  with  you,  and 
dost  thou  not  know  me,  Philip  }  he  that  hath  seen 
me  hath  seen  the  Father"  (John  14  19).  Indeed, 
he  asks :  "How  sayest  thou,  Shew  us  the  Father  t " 
Philip  had  seen  Jesus.  More  than  the  words  of 
Jesus  about  the  Father  is  Jesus  himself.  He  is 
the  Son  and  is  in  the  image  of  the  Father.     •'  I 


GOD    THE    FATHER  1 9 

am  in  the  Father  and  the  Father  in  me"  (John 
14  :  11).  The  way  to  know  the  Father  is  to  know 
Jesus,  for  the  Father  is  Hke  Jesus.  "  He  that 
seeth  me,  seeth  him  that  sent  me"  (John  12  :  45). 

The  Father  loves  the  world  that  he  has  made, 
but  most  of  all  the  men  made  in  his  own  image. 
When  the  prodigal  son  was  return- 
ing home,  "  while  he  was  yet  afar    ^^^  Patlier's 
off,  his    father    saw  him,   and   was   ^r^helinLr 
moved    with   compassion,   and    ran, 
and  fell  on  his  neck,  and  kissed  him  "  (Luke  15  : 
20).     This  is  the  picture  that  Jesus  has  drawn  of 
the  Father's  compassionate  yearning  for  his  rebel- 
lious and  outcast  children.     To  the  resentful  elder 
son  the  Father  said  :  "  This  thy  brother  was  dead, 
and  is  alive  again;   and  was  lost,  and  is  found" 
(Luke  15   :  32).     Hence  Jesus  came  to  die  for 
sinful  men,  not  for  animals,  for  sinful  men  are  lost 
children  of  God. 

The  yearning  love  of  the  Father  does  not  relax 
the  Father's  justice.  He  will  not  out  of  hand  for- 
give the  sinner.     There  had  to  be 

adjustment,  reconciliation.     Here  is    "^^^  Patner's 
, ,  1  r  /--    1  ^1      T-  ..1         Effort  to  Save 

the  real  grace  of  God  the  Father.       ^-^   Sinner 

"  For  God  so  loved  the  world,  that 

he   gave   his    only-begotten   Son,   that  whosoever 

believeth    on    him    should    not    perish,    but   have 

eternal  life"  (John  3  :  16).     The  love  is  on  God's 


20  KEYWORDS    IN    THE   TEACHING    OF    JESUS 

part  first.  This  great  love  provides  the  basis  of 
reconciliation,  the  death  of  the  Son  on  the  cross. 
"  So  must  the  Son  of  Man  be  lifted  up"  (John  3  : 
14).  He  gave  "his  life  a  ransom  for  many" 
(Matt.  20  :  28).  From  the  very  first  Jesus  is  con- 
scious that  his  death  is  necessary  as  the  sacrifice 
for  sin.  To  John  the  Baptist  he  is  "  the  Lamb  of 
God  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world  "  (John 
I  :  29).  It  is  not  a  surprise  to  Jesus  when  he 
comes  to  die.  He  not  only  knew  it,  but  had 
interpreted  it  as  the  Father's  plan  for  the  redemp- 
tion of  men.  But  the  atoning  death  of  Jesus  in 
the  sinner's  stead  is  only  the  basis  of  reconcilia- 
tion. The  work  is  not  completed  till  the  sinner  is 
born  again,  repents,  trusts  the  Father,  and  returns 
a  suppliant  to  the  throne  of  grace.  The  atoning 
death  was  an  objective  fact ;  the  reconciling  grace 
works  in  the  inner  spirit.  This  is  the  Father's 
plan  of  salvation  as  outlined  by  Jesus. 

Of  this  the  sinner  may  be  sure.      "  There  is  joy 
in  heaven  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth  "  (Luke 

15  :  7).  "  Let  us  eat  and  make 
A  Welcome  for  merry:  for  this  my  son  was  dead, 
^^^Smnef^""*  and   is   alive  again;    and  was  lost, 

and  is  found"  (Luke  15  :  32). 
Jesus  is  the  way  to  the  Father  and  he  speaks  for 
himself  thus  :  "  All  that  which  the  Father  giveth 
me  shall  come  unto  me ;  and  him  that  cometh  to 


GOD   THE    FATHER  21 

me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out "  (John  6  :  37). 
This  is  true  also  :  "  No  man  can  come  unto  me 
except  the  Father  which  sent  me  draw  him  "  (John 
6  :  44).  We  leave  unsolved  the  reconciliation  of 
this  initial  drawing  of  the  Father  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  with  the  gracious  invitation  of  Jesus  who 
said  :  "  Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  labor  and  are 
heavy  laden  and  I  will  give  you  rest "  (Matt,  1 1  : 
28).  In  the  realm  of  spirit  the  mystery  of  the 
freedom  of  our  spirits  and  the  sovereignty  of  God 
is  solved.  Let  us  exercise  our  freedom  and  trust 
God  to  exercise  his  sovereignty.  He  is  responsible 
for  that,  not  we,  and  we  can  trust  the  Father  to 
do  right  even  when  we  cannot  understand  his 
plans.  We  may  be  sure  that  his  sovereign  will  is 
not  a  hindrance,  but  a  help  to  our  weakness. 

The  Father  is  merciful  and  has  shown  it  by  the 
highest  of  all  proofs.  He  held  not  back  his  own 
Son.    Yet  the  inexorable  law  stands 

for  all  who  do  not  make  peace  with   The  Father  as 

Judge 
the  Father  through  Christ.     Jesus 

himself  w\\\  act  as  judge,  it  is  true  (John  5  :  22), 
but  he  will  execute  the  will  of  the  Father.  Con- 
demnation rests  on  the  unrepentant  sinner.  The 
penalty  of  the  Father's  law  will  fall  from  the  lips  of 
him  who  came  to  set  us  free  from  that  law.  Jesus, 
the  Saviour,  will  say  :  "  Depart  from  me,  ye  that 
work  iniquity"  (Matt. 7  :23).     "I  never  knew  you." 


22         KEYWORDS    IN    THE   TEACHING   OF  JESUS 

Jesus  does  not  often  use  theological  terms.     He 

sets  vital  truths  in  living  speech,  not  in  abstract 

phrase.     Perhaps  this  is  one  reason 

What  about  tne  ^[ly  t^g  people  hung  on  his  words. 

Character      r^,,     t-  1.1       •      i.        it  i 

of  the  Father?  rather  is  eternal.    Jesus  speaks 

of  the  glory  which  he  had  with  the 
Father  before  the  world  was  (John  17:5).  The 
Father  is  personal  as  this  same  passage  shows. 
He  and  the  Father  had  blessed  converse  with  each 
other  before  the  objective  universe  came  into  ex- 
istence. Jesus  is  not  troubled  by  the  philosoph- 
ical theories  of  pantheism  or  monism.  He  knows 
that  he  exists  ;  he  knows  also  that  the  Father 
exists.  God  is  spirit,  he  tells  the  woman  of 
Samaria  (John  4  :  24).  Hence  materialism  is  un- 
true as  well  as  pantheism.  God  is  spirit,  not  body. 
We  are  like  God  in  having  a  spiritual  nature  with 
which  we  must  worship  him.  God  does  not  make 
his  abode  simply  in  this  place  or  that,  neither  in 
Gerizim  nor  Jerusalem.  The  Father,  again,  is 
almighty.  "  With  God  all  things  are  possible " 
(Matt.  19  :  26).  And  the  Father  is  good,  abso- 
lutely good.  "  None  is  good  save  one,  even  God  " 
(Luke  19  :  18).  God  is  one.  "Our  God  is  one 
Lord,"  not  many  (Mark  12  :  29).  He  is  once  more 
"the  living  Father"  (John  6  :  57).  Thus  does 
Jesus  speak  of  his  Father  and  our  Father.  He 
had  been  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father  and  was  able 


GOD   THE    FATHER  23 

to  declare  the  Father  to  men  (John  i  :  i8).  No 
one  else  has  seen  the  Father  (John  6  :  46).  Hence 
no  one  else  can  declare  the  Father. 

It  is  not  an  absentee  God  that  Jesus  set  forth 
to  men.     "  My  Father  vvorketh  even  until  now  " 
(John  5   :  17),     He  cares   for   the 
lilies  of  the   field,  he  watches  the  The  Father  is 
sparrows  when  they  fall,  he  counts    ■    g.  -m-.j,] j 
the  hairs  of  our  heads.     With  Jesus 
the  Father  is  the  ever-present  reality.     The  world 
is  transient  and  unstable.     The  world  is  the  seem- 
ing, the  Father  the  real.     But  the  Father's  hand 
is  over  all. 

This  is  mysticism  to  us,  but  not  to  Jesus.     He 
was  in  the   Father  and  the  Father  in  him.     He 
prayed  that  the  disciples  might  be 
one  in  the  Father  and  the  Son  (John     The  lather 
17:21).     Indeed,  he  said:    "If  a  .^  gf^^J^!^^^^^ 
man  love  me  he  will  keep  my  word  : 
and  my  Father  will  love  him,  and  we  will  come 
unto  him,  and  make  our  abode  with  him  "  (John 
14  :  23).     That  is  to  bring  heaven  down  to  earth, 
for  heaven  is  where  God  is.     It  was  to  do  just  this 
thing  that  Jesus  left  the  glory  of  heaven  that  he 
might  find  the  key  to  human  hearts.     The  happi- 
ness of  Jesus  consists  in  bringing  men  back  to 
God,   to   make    reconciliation    possible,   to    break 
down  the  middle  wall  of  partition   between  God 


24  KEYWORDS    IN    THE    TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

and  man,  between  Jew  and  Gentile,  to  establish 
a  real  brotherhood  of  redeemed  souls.  He  has 
taught  us  how  the  Father  loves  us.  He  has  shown 
us  what  the  Father  is  like.  He  has  taught  us  to 
say,  "Our  Father."  In  his  hour  of  anguish  he 
himself  cried,  "Abba,  Father."  He  offers  to  take 
us  by  the  hand  and  put  our  hand  in  the  Father's 
and  be  our  Elder  Brother.  "  If  ye  had  known 
me,  ye  should  have  known  my  Father  also  ;  and 
from  henceforth  ye  know  him,  and  have  seen  him" 
(John  14  :  7).  For  "  this  is  life  eternal,  that  they 
might  know  thee  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus 
Christ  whom  thou  hast  sent  "  (John  17:3). 


CHAPTER  II 

THE    SON 

"Take  my  yoke  upon  you,  and  learn  of  me,  for  I  am 
meek  and  lowly  in  heart"  (Matt,  ii  :  29). 

Jesus  has  to  speak  of  himself  in  order  to  set 
forth  the  Father.  He  does  not  talk  of  himself 
just  to  be  speaking  about  himself. 

It  would  be  egotistic  in  anybody  else  to  speak 

of  himself  as   our  Lord  does.     Egotism  is  more 

than  a  weakness.     It  is  abnormal, 

is  a  species  of  insanity,  more  or  less        -n^  .  ^^ 

<-    T      1      1  -I  iigoism 

severe.    So  Paul  exhorted  the  Roman 

Christians  so  to  think  as  to  think  soberly  and  not 

to  think  of  themselves  more  highly  than  they  ought 

to  think  (Rom.  12  :  3).     "  Let  another  man  praise 

thee."    This  is  the  universal  opinion  of  the  world. 

Self-assertion   is  necessary  to   effective  work ;    a 

cringing  self-repression  is  pitiful,  but  self-conceit 

is  repulsive.     Why,  then,  can  we  retain  our  love 

and  adoration  for  Jesus,  if  he  spoke  so  much  of 

himself  .-*     It  is  because  he  was  more  than  man. 

If  he  was  merely  a  man,  even  the  greatest  of  men, 

the  terms  that  he  uses  of  himself  would  be  intoler- 

25 


26  KEYWORDS    IN    THE   TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

able,  as  for  instance,  "I  am  the  light  of  the  world" 
(John  8  :  12).  It  is  in  the  high  relations  that 
Jesus  holds  with  the  Father,  in  what  he  is,  that  he 
escapes  the  charge  of  egotism. 

In  his   "  Intimations  of    Immortality "  Words- 
worth pictures  the  soul  as  dimly  conscious  of  a 
previous  existence.     We  may  well 
The  dismiss    such    poetic  fancies.     But 

State  of  Jesus  ^^^^^  ^^^^^  ^^   "^^  °^  ^^^  repeated 
statements  of  Jesus  on  this  subject 

concerning  himself  ?  "  Before  Abraham  was,  I 
am"  (John  8  :  58) ;  "  I  came  out  from  the  Father, 
and  am  come  into  the  world  "  (John  16  :  28) ;  "  the 
glory  which  I  had  with  thee  before  the  world  was  " 
(John  17:5).  We  may  well  agree  with  the  claim 
of  Jesus  that  "a  greater  than  Solomon  is  here" 
and  "a  greater  than  Jonah"  (Luke  11:31  f.).  It 
is  an  easy  answer  to  say  that  Jesus  means  only 
ideal  pre-existence  by  such  high  words.  He  ex- 
isted in  the  mind  of  the  Father,  it  is  said.  Such 
quibbling  is  puerile,  for  Christ  is  speaking  of  per- 
sonal experiences  and  objective  facts.  He  had 
glory,  existed,  came  forth  from  the  Father.  "  For 
thou  lovedst  me  before  the  foundation  of  the 
world"  (John  17  :  24).  It  is  far  more  manly  to 
say  at  once  that  Jesus  did  not  know  what  he  was 
saying.  He  would  then  be  an  ignorant  enthusiast, 
it  is  true.     If  we  credit  his  character  and  his  words 


THE   SON  27 

and  John's  account  of  them,  we  must  admit  this 
sublime  fact  of  his  pre-existence.  The  Synoptic 
account  of  the  virgin  birth  of  Jesus  reinforces  the 
teaching  of  Christ  on  this  point.  Likewise  the 
express  statement  of  John  that  in  the  beginning 
the  Word  was  with  God  (John  1:1).  We  may 
well  stand  in  awe  of  one  who  can  truthfully  assert 
that  he  was  with  the  Father  before  the  world  was. 
There  is  mystery  here  surely  as  to  the  possibility 
of  the  continuity  of  consciousness  in  such  a  transi- 
tion, but  no  greater  than  such  continuity  in  the 
case  of  death.  In  reality  Christ  claims  timeless 
existence,  for  he  said  :  "I  am"  (John  8  :  58). 

"Father,"  "my  Father,"  "the  Father"  are 
words  often  on  the  lips  of  Jesus.  He  was  ever 
conscious  of  the  peculiar  intimacy 

between  him  and  his  Father.     He        Christ's 
Ti       .  11    1  1  •        If  ,.  ii      r"         c  Kelation  to  the 

likewise  called  himself  "  the  Son  of        pather 

God"  and  "the  Son,"  as  the  Father 

called  him  "my  Son."     "The  Father  loveth  the 

Son"  (John  5  :  20);  "the  hour  cometh,  and  now 

is,  when  the  dead  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son 

of  God ;  and  they  that  hear  shall  live  "  (John  5  : 

25);  "Dost  thou  believe  on  the  Son  of  God?" 

Jesus  asked  the  blind  man  who  had  recently  been 

healed  (John  9:35).     When  asked  pointedly  and 

under  oath  by  Caiaphas  if  he  was  "the  Christ,  the 

Son  of   God,"  he  answered,  "  I  am  "  (Matt.  26  : 


28  KEYWORDS    IN    THE   TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

63  f.).  It  was  not  often,  for  obvious  reasons,  that 
Jesus  so  clearly  asserted  that  he  was  the  Son  of 
God.  When  he  did  so,  it  aroused  vehement  hos- 
tility (John  5,  8,  and  10).  At  last  his  saying  so 
brought  condemnation  from  the  Sanhedrin,  It 
was  not  a  mere  vague  term  for  the  spiritual  rela- 
tionship of  men  with  God.  He  meant  the  full 
content  of  the  words.  "  I  and  the  Father  are 
one"  (John  10  :  30).  We  may  not  venture  farther 
into  the  high  and  holy  fellowship  that  exists  be- 
tween the  Father  and  the  Son.  The  only  begotten 
Son  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  John  tells  us 
(John  I  :  18).  He  is  one  in  nature,  one  in  thought, 
one  in  word,  one  in  deed  with  the  Father.  "All 
things  that  the  Father  hath  are  mine"  (John  16  : 
15).  Jesus  has  life  in  himself  as  the  Father  has 
(John  5  :  26).  Hence  he  could  say  :  "  I  am  the 
life"  (John  11  :  25).  Jesus,  as  the  P^ather,  is 
ultimate  life.  The  scientists  will  never  find  life 
by  the  microscope,  though  lower  forms  of  life  con- 
tinue to  be  discovered.     Not  even  radium  is  life. 

If  these  claims  are  true,  Jesus  is  God  as  John 
expressly  says.    "  The  Word  was  God  "  (John  i  :  i). 

This  is  the  clear  import  of  the  term 
The  Divinity    .<  ^j^^  gon,"  "the  Son  of  God"  in 
of  Jesus  ,  1      /•  T  T 

the  mouth  of  Jesus.     "  1  proceeded 

forth  and  came  from  God "  (John  8  :  42).  "  I 
know   him  ;    for   I   am  from   him  "   (John  7  :  29). 


THE   SON  29 

"  Before  Abraham  was  I  am  "  (John  8:58).  There 
is  no  stopping-place  short  of  real  deity  in  the 
claims  of  Christ.  When  he  says  :  *'  I  am  the  light 
of  the  world"  (John  8  :  12),  it  is  sober  truth  or 
wild  self-conceit.  If  it  is  self-conceit,  Jesus  is 
abnormal  and  not  the  spiritual  and  moral  leader  of 
the  race.  He  falls  from  his  high  pedestal  to  the 
ground  and  beneath  the  ground.  If  it  is  truth,  he 
is  more  than  man.  No  mere  man  in  his  senses 
would  say  it  of  himself.  Nor  could  it  be  true  of 
any  mere  man.  If  Jesus  is  only  man  and  said 
that,  he  is  beneath  contempt.  If  he  is  God  and 
said  it,  he  is  above  praise.  There  is  no  middle 
ground.  "  I  am  the  resurrection,  and  the  life  " 
(John  II  :  25),  Here  again  the  same  argument 
holds.  "  For  as  the  Father  raiseth  up  the  dead, 
and  quickeneth  them  ;  even  so  the  Son  quickeneth 
whom  he  will"  (John  5  :  21).  "Ye  are  from  be- 
neath ;  I  am  from  above  :  ye  are  of  this  world ;  I 
am  not  of  this  world"  (John  8  :  23),  "All  power 
is  given  me  in  heaven  and  earth"  (Matt.  28  :  18). 
What  sane  man  could  speak  these  words  if  he 
were  only  man }  Jesus  expressly  healed  the  para- 
lytic let  down  through  the  roof  that  his  enemies 
might  "know  that  the  Son  of  man  hath  power  on 
earth  to  forgive  sins"  (Matt.  9  :  6).  The  Pharisees 
had  rightly  said  that  God  alone  could  forgive  sins. 
Moreover,  all  other  men  are  conscious  of  sin.     But 


30         KEYWORDS    IN    THE   TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

Jesus  never  betrays  the  slightest  consciousness  of 
guilt  of  any  kind.  There  are  varieties  of  religious 
experience  among  men,  but  all  agree  on  this  point : 
"  We  have  all  sinned  and  come  short  of  the  glory 
of  God."  But  not  so  Jesus.  On  the  other  hand 
he  repeatedly  claims  perfect  obedience  to  the  will 
of  the  Father.  «  My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  him 
that  sent  me  "  (John  4  :  34).  He  came  to  save 
sinners  and  had  no  sin  of  his  own.  This  is  an 
anomaly  in  human  experience  that  cannot  be  ex- 
plained, save  on  the  assumption  of  the  divinity  of 
Jesus.  In  the  beginning  of  his  ministry  Jesus  said 
to  Nathanael :  '*  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  Ye 
shall  see  the  heavens  opened,  and  the  angels  of 
God  ascending  and  descending  upon  the  Son  of 
man"  (John  i  :  51).  He  will  make  the  prophecy 
on  his  trial  that  "the  Son  of  man  shall  sit  on 
the  right  hand  of  the  power  of  God  "  (Luke  22  : 
69),  and  he  will  be  seen  "  coming  in  the  clouds  of 
heaven"  (Mark  14  :  62). 

The  incarnation  is  the  first  glorious  fact  in  the 

life  of  Jesus  on  earth.     It  is  a  mighty  fact  fraught 

with  mystery.  Jesus  could,  of  course, 

Jesus'         say  nothing  about  the  mystery  ot 

withMankTnd  ^'^  ^''^^-     "°^  "^"^^   ^'^   "^^^^^"^ 
told  him  or  the  Father  revealed  to 

him  we  do  not  know.     He  called  Joseph  father, 

but  he  early  knew  that  God  was  his  true  Father, 


THE    SON  31 

and  at  the  age  of  twelve  says  *'  My  Father  "  when 
speaking  of  God  (Luke  2  :  51).  This  is  not  the 
place  to  discuss  the  virgin  birth  since  Jesus  naturally 
did  not  do  so.  But  the  words  of  Jesus  are  in  har- 
mony with  what  Matthew  and  Luke  do  say  directly, 
and  what  John  implies  and  Paul  also,  though  not 
so  strongly.  In  calling  himself  Son  of  God  and 
Son  of  Man  he  presents  the  two-fold  nature.  He 
was  divine  and  human.  The  feeling  of  Jesus 
toward  his  mother  was  loving  and  tender.  In  call- 
ing her  **  Woman  "  at  Cana  during  the  wedding 
feast  he  was  not  harsh  (John  2  :  4),  for  on  the 
cross  also  he  addressed  her  thus  when  he  com- 
mended her  to  the  care  of  John  (John  19  :  26). 
He  did  make  her  understand,  after  he  entered 
upon  his  Messianic  work,  that  she  was  not  to  con- 
trol his  actions  further.  Henceforth  the  Father 
and  the  Spirit  were  to  direct  his  way.  But  Jesus 
was  not  ashamed  to  call  us  brethren  and  friends. 
His  favorite  title  for  himself  was  "the  Son  of 
Man."  He  joyfully  acknowledged  his  humanity, 
which  was  real  and  no  mere  phantom.  The  term 
itself  is  linked  to  the  phrase  "  a  Son  of  Man  "  in 
the  book  of  Daniel.  Jesus  seems  to  have  used  it 
to  express  his  real  humanity,  the  representative 
character  of  his  relation  to  men  and  the  ideal 
character  of  the  true  man.  Hence  he  submitted 
to  baptism,  though  he  had  no  sins  of  which   to 


32  KEYWORDS    IN    THE    TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

repent  (Matt.  3:15).  Hence  he  endured  temptation 
and  gained  power  and  sympathy.  So  he  grew 
weak  and  weary,  and  had  at  times  not  where  to 
lay  his  head  (Luke  9:58).  So  he  went  down  into 
the  valley  of  trial  and  at  the  very  bottom  cried 
out :  *'  O  my  Father,  if  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup 
pass  from  me :  nevertheless  not  as  I  will,  but  as 
thou  wilt "  (Matt,  26  :  39).  Out  of  the  darkness 
he  exclaimed  :  "  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou 
forsaken  me?"  (Matt.  27  :  46.)  It  cost  all  this 
for  Christ  to  be  a  man,  but  he  gladly  became  flesh 
for  our  sakes  (2  Cor.  8  :  9). 

When  did  our  Lord  first  become  aware  that  he 

was  the  Messiah,  the   Son   of   God  .-•      Some  say 

that  he  knew  as  much  even  as  a  babe 

The  Messianic  as  he  ever  did.     Others  say  that  he 

Self-Oonscious-  ^^^  ^^^  j^^ow  that  he  was  the  Mes- 

ness  of  Jesus 

siah  till  the  voice  of  the  Father  so 

greeted  him  at  his  baptism.  Both  views  are  clearly 
wrong,  though  we  must  be  careful  not  to  dogma- 
tize. When  twelve  years  old  Jesus  said  to  Joseph 
and  Mary  in  the  temple :  "  Wist  ye  not  that  I 
must  be  in  my  Father's  house  ? "  (Luke  2  :  50). 
Here  he  evidently  is  conscious  that  he  sustains  a 
peculiar  relation  to  the  Father  not  held  by  others. 
When  he  first  grew  into  that  consciousness  it  is 
idle  to  speculate.  He  did  grow  in  wisdom  as  he 
grew    in   stature    (Luke  2  :  52).     Here  is  an  in- 


THE   SON  33 

soluble  mystery,  how  the  Son  of  God  could  grow 
in  wisdom  ;  but  we  must  be  content  with  our  igno- 
rance. We  do  not  even  know  how  our  spirits  can 
dwell  in  our  bodies.  Doubtless  the  consciousness 
of  his  own  deity  grew  with  the  years.  He  knows 
that  he  is  the  Messiah  when  he  comes  to  John  the 
Baptist  and  never  falters  in  that  conviction  to  the 
end.  Jesus  was  no  opportunist,  seeking  to  pander 
to  the  v\^hims  of  the  populace.  He  had  the  high 
moral  courage  to  be  the  true  Messiah  at  the  cost 
of  his  life  rather  than  be  the  Messiah  of  the  crowd 
with  continued  human  life  and  an  earthly  crown. 
He  was,  likewise,  not  a  disappointed  man.  He 
had  full  in  view  the  issues  at  stake  and  the  import 
of  his  message  and  the  outcome.  He  will  say  to 
the  woman  at  the  well :  "  I  that  speak  unto  thee 
am  he  "  (John  4  :  26).  He  will  say  to  Caiaphas 
at  last  under  oath  :    "  I  am  he  "  (Mark  14  :  62). 

He  loved  to  speak  of  himself  as  sent  by  the 
Father  into  the  world  (John  6  :  38f.,  57;  12  :  49). 
He  was   anointed   for  his  mission, 
and   hence   was   the    Messiah,    the         Jesus 
Anointed    One.     He  did    not  con-    H^s'Sfof 
sider  himself  an  accident,  an  adven- 
turer, a  piece  of   driftwood    in  the  centuries,  or 
even  the  result  of  a  natural  evolutionary  process. 
He  was  come  to  bear  witness  to  the  truth  in  a 
world  of  lies  (John  18  :  37).     He  was  come  as  the 


34  KEYWORDS    IN    THE   TEACHING    OF    JESUS 

light  of  the  world  in  the  midst  of  darkness  (John 
8  :  12;  12  :  46).  He  was  come  as  the  good  shep- 
herd to  care  for  the  sheep  and  to  keep  off  the 
wolves  and  the  hirelings  (John  10  :  1-18).  He 
was  a  physician  in  the  midst  of  the  sick  (Matt. 
9:12).  He  came  to  save  the  lost  in  a  world  of 
sin  (Luke  19  :  10).  He  came  to  give  life  in  the 
midst  of  death  (John  4  :  13  f.;  6  :  55-58).  He  was 
indeed  the  water  of  life  and  the  bread  from  heaven. 
In  a  word,  he  came  "to  preach  the  gospel  to  the 
poor ;  he  hath  sent  me  to  heal  the  brokenhearted, 
to  preach  deliverance  to  the  captives,  and  recover- 
ing of  sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty  them 
that  are  bruised,  to  preach  the  acceptable  year 
of  the  Lord"  (Luke  4  :  18).  He  was  ready  to 
do  this  if  it  cost  his  life,  as  he  knew  it  would. 
He  came  "  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many " 
(Matt.  20  :  28). 

It   was   the    Father's  love  for  the   world  that 

caused  him  to  send  the  Son  into  the  world  (John 

3:16).     At  every  turn  Jesus  mani- 

Christ's  Love    fested  his  own  pity  and  love  for  a 

,    ^  ,,      ruined  race.     He  was  known  as  the 
the  World 

friend  of  publicans  and  sinners  and 

defended  his  search  for  the  worst  sinners.     He 

had  the  shepherd  heart  that  would  go  out  after 

the  lost  lamb  on  the  mountain.     He  offered  the 

water  of   life  to  all  who  would  come  and  drink 


THE    SON  35 

(John  7  :  37),  rest  to  all  the  weary  and  the  sin- 
sick  and  the  heavy  laden  (Matt.  1 1  :  28  f.). 

He  linked  his  teaching  to  that  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, and  distinctly  denied  that  he  came  to 
destroy  the  law  and  the  prophets, 
but  rather  to  fulfil.  To  fulfil  is  to  Jf^us'  Teach- 
make  full.  He  came  to  complete,  old  TesUment 
to  realize,  to  go  farther  in  the  same 
direction.  Where  the  Old  Testament  was  sym- 
bolical, he  was  the  reality.  Where  the  Old  Testa- 
ment was  ceremonial,  he  was  spiritual  and  ethical. 
Where  the  Old  Testament  was  type  and  shadow, 
he  gave  the  substance.  Where  the  Old  Testament 
was  negative,  Christ  was  positive.  Where  the  Old 
Testament  was  a  concession  to  the  weakness  of 
human  nature,  Jesus  struck  off  the  outer  shell  and 
went  to  the  heart  of  the  matter.  But  Jesus  ever 
exalted  the  Old  Testament,  even  when  he  said,  "  I 
say  unto  you,"  in  contrast  with  its  commands.  It 
was  not  a  contrast  in  kind,  but  in  degree.  He 
caught  the  spirit  of  the  Old  Testament  and  re- 
leased men  from  the  bondage  of  the  letter.  So 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  does  not  decry  the  Old 
Testament,  but  exalts  it.  "Hate  thine  enemy" 
(Matt.  5  :  43)  is  not  in  the  Old  Testament,  but  is 
the  teaching  of  the  rabbis.  Jesus  brought  life  and 
immortality  to  light,  "  the  light  of  the  gospel  of  the 
glory  of  Christ." 


36  KEYWORDS    IN    THE   TEACHING    OF    JESUS 

But  Jesus  does  set  himself  against  the  teachers 

of  the  time,  who  had  covered  up  the  spirit  of  the 

Old  Testament  with  their  traditions 

"^Tea^c™^^  and  legends  and  hair-splitting  theo- 
ries. The  theology  of  Jesus  runs 
counter  to  the  theology  of  his  day  at  a  number  of 
essential  points.  He  had  to  expose  the  hypocrisy 
of  the  Pharisees,  their  mere  formalism,  their  literal- 
ism as  to  the  Sabbath,  their  burdensome  rules 
about  everyday  life,  their  worldly-mindedness, 
their  error  as  to  a  temporal  kingdom,  their 
spiritual  blindness.  In  a  word :  "  Except  your 
righteousness  exceed  the  righteousness  of  the 
scribes  and  Pharisees,  ye  shall  in  no  wise  enter 
the  kingdom  of  heaven "  (Matt.  5  :  20).  This 
necessary  antagonism  of  Jesus  lashed  the  Phari- 
sees into  a  fury  and  they  early  began  to  plot  for 
his  death.  They  could  not  brook  such  teaching. 
He  was  a  heretic  and  must  be  exterminated. 

Jesus  did  not  falter.     He  rose  above  the  false 

clamor  of  approval  from  the  people  and  the  din  of 

opposition  from  the  Jerusalem  con- 

The  Sense  of    spiracy.     He  knew  that  he  was  the 

in  Jesus        ^^^  ^^  ^°^  ^^^  ^^"^  ^  message  for 
men.     He  brushed  aside  the  cob- 
webs of  tradition  and  rabbinical  technicalities  and 
gave  men   the  truth.     It  was  the  very  breath  of 
heaven,  and  men  marveled  at  his  words.     He  spoke 


THE   SON  37 

not  as  the  scribes,  but  with  authority.  It  was  a 
new  day  in  Palestine  when  the  truth  could  be 
turned  loose  on  its  own  merits  without  the  support 
of  some  great  name  to  guarantee  its  genuineness. 
The  modern  era  began  with  Jesus  in  more  senses 
than  one.  The  Dark  Ages  in  after  years  was  an 
effort  to  hold  down  the  light.  His  kingdom  was 
truth  and  he  could  stand  and  look  down  on  Pilate's 
timid  cowardice.  Jesus  dared  call  men  to  himself. 
"I  am  the  truth"  (John  14  : 6),  he  said.  We  think 
of  truth  as  a  system.  Jesus  incarnated  it  and  we 
can  grasp  truth  in  its  fulness  only  as  we  get  close 
to  him.  This  is  the  fault  with  one-sided  scientists 
and  narrow  theologians.  He  invited  men  to  come 
and  take  his  yoke,  come  to  school  to  him,  for  his 
yoke  is  easy  and  his  burden  is  light.  The  lessons 
are  not  hard  after  we  get  a  start.  And  we  can  sit 
like  Mary  at  the  Teacher's  feet  and  learn  of  him. 
This  is  not  conceit  in  Jesus,  but  the  natural  un- 
folding of  what  he  was  to  those  who  needed  him. 

He  had  much  to  give  as  a  Teacher.  The  Father 
revealed  to  him  the  wisdom  of  heaven.  He  was 
under    the   guidance  of    the    Holy 

Spirit.      He  was  the   Son  of  God.  '^^^  ^nowledge 

01  Jesus 
Peter  finally  was  able  to  say  to  him  : 

"  Lord,  thou  knowest  all  things"  (John  21  :  17),  and 

it  was  true.     And  yet  he  grew  in  knowledge,  was 

surprised  at  various  times,  and  on  one  occasion 


38  KEYWORDS    IN    THE    TEACHING    OF    JESUS 

said  that  he  knew  not  when  the  day  of  the  end  of 
the  world  would  be  (Mark  13  :  32).  Here  we  con- 
front a  mystery  past  our  unravelmg.  It  is  one 
thing  not  to  know  and  another  to  know  wrongly. 
If  Jesus  had  human  limitations  in  his  knowledge 
on  certain  points,  and  so  did  not  speak  on  them, 
we  may  not  call  him  in  error  when  he  does  speak. 
Least  of  all  may  we  say  that  Jesus  was  ignorant 
of  the  Old  Testament,  for  here  he  expressly  claimed 
to  have  new  light  and  chided  the  teachers  of  his 
time  with  their  ignorance  and  error.  Nor  must  we 
let  our  own  ignorance  on  this  subject  accent  un- 
duly the  supposed  ignorance  of  Jesus. 

The  central  teaching  of  Jesus  was  his  death  and 

resurrection.     If  we  wish  to  learn  the  theology  of 

Jesus,  we  must  follow  his  lead.     He 

The  Central     is  his  own  best  interpreter.      He  laid 

Thought  of     accent  on  his  miracles  and  urged  that 

they  corroborated  his  claims.     But 

they  were  only  means  to  an  end.     He  asserted  that 

he  was  the  Son  of  God  and  had  come  to  save  men 

by  his  death  if  they  believed  in  him.   He  would  give 

proof  of  his  Messianic  claims  and  of  the  power  of 

his  atoning  death  by  rising  from  the  dead.     He  had 

power  to  lay  down  his  life  and  he  had  power  to  take 

it  again.     He  would  give  his  life  for  the  sheep.     He 

would  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many.      His  blood 

would  be   shed  for  the  remission  of  sins  (Matt. 


THE   SON  39 

26  :  28).  And  if  he  was  lifted  up,  he  would  draw 
all  men  unto  him  (John  12  :  32).  It  was  a  volun- 
tary death  and  a  conscious  sacrifice.  He  knew 
what  he  was  doing  and  went  to  the  cross  with  high 
and  holy  purpose.  If  he  faltered  for  a  moment 
in  Gethsemane,  that  was  due  to  the  weakness  of 
the  flesh,  and  it  was  only  for  a  moment.  We 
must  put  the  accent  where  Jesus  does.  He  was 
born  at  all  only  to  die  for  our  sins.  Else  he  had 
no  message  to  teach  that  was  other  than  ethical 
and  ineffective.  Else  he  could  not  be  our  King. 
Else  he  could  not  be  our  Saviour.  Else  he  could 
not  be  our  Priest.  Else  he  could  not  be  our 
Advocate.  But  for  his  atoning  death,  he  would 
have  been  only  another  of  the  many  teachers  of 
the  world.  The  blood  of  Christ  makes  possible 
the  work  of  the  Spirit.  But  his  death  on  the  cross 
and  his  resurrection  from  the  grave  were  long  in 
his  heart  and  on  his  lips.  It  all  fell  on  dull  ears. 
But  thanks  be  to  God  for  the  victory  in  a  crucified 
and  risen  Saviour.  Jesus  had  no  mere  mechanical 
conception  of  his  atoning  death.  He  clearly  taught 
that  he  gave  his  life  a  ransom  in  place  of  those  who 
were  saved  from  sin  (Matt.  20  :  28).  But  that  he 
perceived  the  vital  and  moral  aspects  of  this  sacri- 
fice is  plain  from  John  12  :  24  f.  His  course  was 
in  harmony  with  nature. 

The  cross  is  now  to  us  in  some  manner  what  it 


40  KEYWORDS    IN    THE    TEACHING    OF    JESUS 

was  to  Jesus,  our  glory  and  our  crown.  Life  is  linked 
with  death.  By  his  death  he  won  the  right  to  save 
us  froni  sin.  Shall  we  gain  life  in  Christ  ?  He  can 
give  us  life  abundantly  if  we  are  willing  to  live.  The 
hardest  word  that  Jesus  had  for  his  generation  was  : 
"  Ye  will  not  come  unto  me  that  ye  might  have  life  " 
(John  5  :  40).  Jesus  is  lord  of  life  and  conqueror  of 
death.  When  the  Galilean  multitudes  turned  away 
from  Jesus  after  they  learned  that  he  was  merely 
a  spiritual  Messiah,  he  turned  to  the  disciples  : 
"Will  ye  also  go  away.?  "  It  was  Peter  who  said : 
**  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go  ?  Thou  hast  the 
words  of  eternal  life.  And  we  have  believed  and 
know  that  thou  art  the  Holy  One  of  God"  (John 
6  :  6S  f.).  Peter  indeed  seems  to  have  considered 
going  with  the  multitude  who  had  left  Christ,  but 
on  the  whole  he  had  decided  to  hold  fast  to  him. 
His  loyalty  was  the  result  of  reflection,  and  not 
mere  impulse. 


CHAPTER  III 

SIN 

"To  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many"   (Matt.  20  :  28). 

There  is  not  much  said  by  Jesus  about  sin  on 
its  theological  side,  though  he  has  much  to  say- 
about  special  acts  of  sin.  Jesus  was  practical 
in  his  teaching  about  the  sins  of  men.  But  the 
dark  shadow  of  sin  rested  over  his  earthly  life.  It 
was  in  the  air  about  him,  in  the  lives  of  men  and 
women  all  around  him,  in  the  hearts  of  all  whom 
he  met.  It  was  repulsive  to  his  holy  nature,  and 
yet  he  did  not  shrink  from  close  contact  with  sinful 
men.  Satan  sought  to  besmirch  Jesus  with  sin  at 
the  start  of  his  public  work  and  never  gave  up  the 
hope  of  doing  so,  but  tried  every  convenient  oppor- 
tunity. He  attacked  Christ  by  every  approach 
possible.  In  fact  Christ  sought  out  the  most  sinful 
classes  in  order  to  help  them,  and  was  not  ashamed 
to  be  known  as  the  friend  of  publicans  and  sinners 
(Matt.  II  :  19).  But  if  he  had  sinned  himself,  he 
could  not  have  saved  others.  His  enemies  jeered 
at  him  as  he  hung  on  the  cross  :  "  He  saved  others  ; 
himself  he  cannot  save."     That  was  literally  true, 

41 


42  KEYWORDS    IN    THE    TEACHING    OF    JESUS 

There  was  no  doubt  in  the  mind  of  Jesus 
about  the  fact  of  sin.  He  was  no  dilettante  re- 
former who  had  come  with  some 
-Keanty  oi  j-Qse-water  nostrum  to  cover  up  the 
heinousness  of  sin.  Men  have  ex- 
hausted their  ingenuity  to  escape  the  fact  or  the 
consequences  of  sin.  Some  deny  that  sin  is,  as 
does  the  Christian  Scientist.  Or  it  is  said  that  sin 
is  not  so  very  bad  after  all  and  we  can  manage  it 
without  the  help  of  Christ.  This  is  like  the  con- 
sumptive that  is  always  going  to  get  well  without 
doing  anything.  Or  we  are  all  saved  by  the  mere 
fact  that  Christ  has  become  man.  His  incarna- 
tion saves  the  race.  A  comfortable  dream  is  this, 
possible  only  by  disregarding  the  facts  of  life  and 
the  words  of  Jesus  whose  life  is  leaned  on  for 
salvation. 

A  weakened  sense  of  sin  is  the  curse  of  our 
time.  Jesus  had  the  same  conception  of  his  mis- 
sion that  was  expressed  by  John  the  Baptist, 
when  he  cried  :  "  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  that 
taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world  "  (John  i  :  29). 
It  is  the  Lamb  as  a  sacrifice  that  takes  away  sin. 
His  name,  Jesus,  was  given  to  him  because  he  will 
save  his  people  from  their  sins  (Matt,  i  :  21).  He 
came  to  save  sinners,  not  the  so-called  righteous 
(Matt.  9:  13).  They  were  sinners  too,  but  were 
too  proud  to  own  it,  like  some  people  now.     Let  it 


SIN  43 

go  at  their  own  estimate  of  themselves  for  the 
present.  Here  are  sinners,  who  know  that  they 
are  sinners,  and  these  Christ  came  to  save,  the  lost 
sheep.  He  will  not  have  to  lose  time  in  convin- 
cing these  that  they  are  sinners  and  lost.  No 
wonder  the  publicans  and  sinners  came  to  hear 
him  (Luke  15  :  i).  We  have  the  same  situation 
to-day.  The  self-righteous  hypocrites  took  the 
indictment  of  Christ  as  an  insult,  but  the  publicans 
knew  that  they  were  sinners.  The  hard  field  to- 
day is  among  the  self-satisfied.  The  coming  of 
Jesus  quickened  the  consciousness  of  men  as  to  sin. 
"  If  I  had  not  come,  they  had  not  had  sin  "  (John 
1 5  :  22),  /'.  e.,  not  so  great  sin  as  they  do  have.  And 
yet  Jesus  had  no  consciousness  of  sin  himself.  In 
fact,  he  challenged  his  enemies  to  find  sin  in  him: 
"  Which  of  you  convinceth  me  of  sin  ? "  (John  8  : 
46).  Every  sane  man  is  conscious  of  sin,  and  is  a 
hypocrite  if  he  denies  it.  Therefore  Jesus  was 
God  and  not  mere  man.  The  Holy  Spirit  will 
convict  the  world  of  sin  (John  16  :  8),  and  the 
preacher  is  helpless  to  move  men  till  this  personal 
conviction  of  sin  takes  place.  The  crying  need  of 
our  day  is  a  sharper  accent  on  the  reality  of  sin 
and  the  pressure  of  sin  on  the  human  soul.  One's 
theory  of  God  and  sin  decides  his  theology  and  his 
life.  Tell  me  your  view  of  God  and  sin  and  I  can 
fill  out  the  rest.     The  Pharisee  stood  and  prayed 


44  KEYWORDS    IN    THE   TEACHING    OF    JESUS 

with  himself  (not  with  God)  and  gave  the  Lord 
some  information  about  his  own  goodness  and 
superiority  over  others.  The  poor  convicted  pub- 
lican with  bowed  head  asked  :  "  God  be  merciful 
to  me  the  sinner  "   (Luke  i8  :  13). 

As  might  be  expected,  Jesus  deals  with  sin  as  a 
universal  fact  and  does   not   seek   to  explain  its 

origin.       He    says    nothing    about 
The  Origin  of   ^^^^^  ^^^  ^^^  ^^^  ^^^  ^^^^  ^^^  ^^^^ 

Sm 

entered   into   human    hearts.       He 

does  not  discuss  the  federal  or  the  natural  head- 
ship of  Adam.  But  he  treats  all  men  as  sinners 
and  as  responsible  for  their  sin.  "  If  ye  were 
blind,  ye  should  have  no  sin  "  (John  9  :  41).  But 
we  all  have  conscience,  a  sense  of  right  and  moral 
responsibility.  "  Whosoever  committeth  sin  is  the 
servant  of  sin  "  (John  8  :  34).  Thus  he  implied 
that  the  Jews  were  slaves  of  sin  and  offered  to 
make  them  free  indeed  (John  8  :  36).  Yea,  he 
said  :  "  If  ye  believe  not  that  I  am  he,  ye  shall 
die  in  your  sins  "  (John  8  :  24),  How  God  could 
permit  sin  to  exist,  Jesus  does  not  say.  He  has 
left  that  for  modern  theologians  and  philosophers. 
He  has  come  to  set  us  free  from  the  bondage  of 
sin  and  that  is  better. 

The  modern  theory  of  evolution  is  not  neces- 
sarily out  of  harmony  with  the  essential  fact  of 
the  fall   of    man,  the  inherited  sin  of   the  race, 


SIN  45 

which  lies  beyond  the  coming  of  Christ  to  save 
a  lost  and  ruined  world.  Jesus  calls  Satan  the 
father  of  lies  (John  8  :  44),  and  he  is  by  implica- 
tion the  father  of  all  sin.  The  reality  and  per- 
sonality of  Satan  as  the  king  of  the  kingdom  of 
evil,  Jesus  clearly  teaches.  No  exegetical  methods 
can  make  the  devil  a  mere  personification  of  the 
evil  principle  set  forth  in  the  teaching  of  Christ. 
Satan  desired  to  sift  Simon  as  he  had  tried  Jesus 
and  Judas.  The  same  thing  is  true  as  to  demons, 
the  agents  of  Satan.  The  words  of  Jesus  are  so 
numerous  and  so  explicit  that  the  existence  of  de- 
mons is  bound  to  be  admitted.  The  possession  of 
men  by  demons  is  not  mere  disease,  but  the  violent 
exhibition  of  Satanic  power  in  an  effort  to  dominate 
men.  Demons  may  possess  men  now  for  aught 
we  know.  The  devil  can  change  with  the  fashions. 
Jesus  makes  no  formal  discussion  of  sin,  but  we 
can  get  his  idea  of  the  character  of  sin  from  a 
variety  of  arguments.  He  looks 
upon  it  not  as  a  mere  disease  or  m-  ~; 

firmity.  The  quality  of  sin  in  the 
mind  of  Jesus  is  seen  when  he  says  to  the  Phari- 
sees :  "  O  generation  of  vipers  !  how  can  ye,  being 
evil,  speak  good  things  .^  "  (Matt.  12  :  34.)  Aliena- 
tion from  the  Father  is  the  worst  effect  of  sin. 
There  is  a  break  between  God  and  men,  and  sin 
has  caused  it.     This  is  the  work  of  Jesus,  to  heal 


46  KEYWORDS    IN    THE    TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

that  breach.  But  he  does  it  not  by  patching  up 
sin,  rather  by  overcoming  it.  Sin  makes  men 
blind  so  that  "  seeing  they  may  see,  and  not 
perceive"  (Mark  4:12).  The  deadening  power 
of  sin  affects  the  whole  man.  This  is  what  total 
depravity  means,  not  that  there  is  no  good  in  man. 
But  all  his  faculties  are  tainted  by  sin,  as  memory, 
imagination,  appetite,  ambition.  The  heart  is 
hardened  ;  some  hearts  are  like  the  wayside,  some 
like  the  stony  ground,  and  some  like  the  thorny 
ground.  Men  are  dull  of  hearing,  with  closed  eyes, 
with  heart  waxed  gross,  and  they  do  not  under- 
stand the  mysteries  of  the  kingdom.  Such  a  heart 
cannot  believe.  Once  the  Master  cried  out :  "  O 
faithless  and  perverse  generation,  how  long  shall  I 
be  with  you  .-^  "  (Luke  9:  41.)  The  unbelief  of 
such  hardened  hearts  taxed  the  patience  of  the 
gentle  Christ.  In  some  cases  Jesus  actually  mar- 
veled at  the  unbelief  which  he  met.  This  is  the 
normal  state  of  the  human  heart  as  the  result  of 
sin.  Distrust  of  God  has  taken  the  place  of  love 
and  confidence. 

Sin  has  its  seat  in  the  heart  where  are  the  issues 
of  life.  The  moral  life  with  Jesus  consists  in  the 
heart  life,  not  in  the  mere  outward  observance. 
The  keenest  denunciation  that  the  Master  used 
was  directed  against  the  hypocrites  who  used  the 
livery  of  heaven  to  serve  the  devil  in.     These  men 


SIN  47 

outwardly  appear  righteous  unto  men,  but  inwardly 
are  full  of  hypocrisy  and  iniquity,  like  whited 
sepulchres  full  of  dead  men's  bones.  The  note  of 
genuineness  is  struck  by  Jesus  with  great  power 
and  this  insistence  aroused  the  keenest  hostility  of 
the  Pharisees.  God  wanted  heart  service,  not 
mere  lip  service.  It  is  what  comes  from  within 
that  defiles  the  man.  •'  Wherefore  think  ye  evil 
in  your  hearts  ?  "  (Matt.  9  :  4.)  "  The  light  of  the 
body  is  the  eye,"  and  "  if  thine  eye  be  evil  thy 
whole  body  shall  be  full  of  darkness "  (Matt. 
6  :  22  f.). 

Dr.  James  Stalker,  in  his  recent  Gay  Lectures 
at  Louisville,  pungently  divided  Christ's  denuncia- 
tion of  sin  into  the  sin  of  the  publican,  the  sin  of 
the  Sadducee,  the  sin  of  the  Pharisee.  The  pub- 
lican was  guilty  of  sensual  sin,  the  Sadducee  of 
pride,  the  Pharisee  of  hypocrisy.  Jesus  did  not 
condone  the  first,  but  found  him  easier  to  reach 
than  the  proud  Sadducee.  The  hypocritical  Phari- 
see he  unmercifully  condemned. 

With  a  nature  thus  deranged  it  is  not  strange 
that  men  are  subject  to  all  sorts  of  temptations. 
Jesus  knew  the  power  of  temptation  in  his  own 
life  and  understood  full  well  the  weakness  of  men. 
He  urged  the  disciples  to  pray,  "  Lead  us  not  into 
temptation"  (Matt.  6  :  13).  In  Gethsemane  he 
felt  the  full  force  of  the  tempter's  power  and  he 


48  KEYWORDS    IN    THE    TEACHING    OF    JESUS 

besought  the  disciples  :  *'  Pray  that  ye  enter  not 
into  temptation "  (Luke  22  :  40).  But  he  was 
insistent  that  we  resist  the  tempter  to  the  end. 

Besides  unbelief  and  hypocrisy  our  Lord  de- 
nounced other  prominent  sins  in  the  people  of  his 
time.  The  pride  of  the  rabbis,  who  loved  to  be 
called  "rabbi"  and  to  have  prominent  seats,  ex- 
cited his  indignation.  He  told  many  parables  to 
illustrate  the  power  of  covetousness  over  the  hearts 
of  those  who  laid  up  treasure  for  themselves  and 
yet  were  not  rich  toward  God ;  who  thought  that 
life  consisted  in  the  abundance  of  the  things  that 
one  possessed.  Jesus  bluntly  called  such  men 
"  fools."     They  missed  the  point  of  life. 

Captious  criticism  likewise  called  forth  the  re- 
proof of  Christ.  He  called  attention  to  the  fact 
that  the  critic  invited  criticism  on  himself  by 
assuming  such  a  role.  People  in  glass  houses 
should  not  throw  stones,  and  those  with  beams  in 
their  eyes  had  better  not  hunt  for  motes  in  other 
people's  eyes.  It  was  a  materialistic  and  worldly 
age  to  which  Jesus  spoke,  one  that  loved  the  mam- 
mon of  unrighteousness  and  wished  to  have  credit 
with  God  also.  Anger,  murder,  adultery,  deceit, 
theft,  and  many  other  sins  were  scathingly  at- 
tacked by  Christ.  Like  John  the  Baptist  he 
exposed  the  sins  of  the  men  of  the  time  and  held 
each    man    up    before   the    mirror  of    the  truth. 


SIN  49 

They  did  not  believe  on  him  because  he  told  them 
the  truth.  Flattery  and  fawning  tickle  the  fancy, 
but  are  unthinkable  in  connection  with  Jesus. 

But  we  do  not  get  Christ's  idea  of  sin  till  we 
go  with  him  into  Gethsemane  and  hear  him  cry, 
"  O  my  Father,  if  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass 
away  from  me  "  (Matt.  26  :  39).  Then  we  know 
how  sinful  he  thought  sin  was.  He  shrank  from 
the  cup  that  he  had  to  drink  if  men  were  to  be 
saved.  Go  and  stand  by  the  cross  and  hear  him 
say  at  the  conclusion  of  three  hours  of  darkness, 
«'  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?  " 
(Matt.  27  :  46.)  As  we  see  him  hanging  here 
regarded  as  sin  by  the  Father,  in  some  sense 
deserted  by  the  Father,  we  may  form  some  idea  of 
what  the  Father  and  the  Son  thought  of  sin.  Yes, 
and  we  can  see  the  lengths  to  which  sin  will  go. 
It  crucified  the  Lord  of  glory,  the  only  good  man 
who  ever  trod  the  earth. 

Jesus  accentuated  the  individual  man.     He  dis- 
covered the  worth  of  the  soul.     In  the  world  of 
class    and   caste   the    individual    is 
worth  little.     "  How  much,  then,  is    "^^of^g^n^*^ 
a  man  of  more  value  than  a  sheep  .^" 
(Matt.  12  :  12)  he  asked.     It  was  not  an  idle  ques- 
tion.    If  a  man  is  better  than  a  sheep,  respect 
human  rights  and  treat  a  man  better  than  a  sheep. 
Is  that  true  on  your  farm,  in  your  factory,  your 

D 


50  KEYWORDS    IN    THE    TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

Store,  your  mine,  your  home  ?  Yes,  and  let  the 
man  realize  his  own  worth.  Stoicism  taught  and 
practised  suicide  and  cheapened  human  life. 
"  What  shall  a  man  give  in  exchange  for  his 
soul  .^  "  (Matt.  1 6  :  26.)  Jesus  placed  the  human 
soul  over  against  the  whole  material  universe. 

Moral  responsibility  is  large  in  the  teaching  of 
Christ.  Guilt  is  written  on  every  man's  heart. 
Death,  spiritual  death,  is  the  condition  of  the 
unsaved.  They  are  dead.  "  Leave  the  dead  to 
bury  their  own  dead  "  (Luke  9  :  60).  The  penalty 
for  guilt  is  inexorable.  Punishment  is  not  simply 
corrective  and  temporary,  but  chiefly  retributive 
and  eternal.  God  "  is  able  to  destroy  both  soul 
and  body  in  hell"  (Matt.  10  :  28).  Yes,  "and 
except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish " 
(Luke  13:5).  The  final  punishment  is  eternal 
with  the  devil  and  his  angels.  "  For  what  shall  a 
man  be  profited,  if  he  shall  gain  the  whole  world, 
and  forfeit  his  own  life.?"  (Matt.  16  :  26.)  That 
is  the  point ;  lose  /lis  ozvu  soul.  Lose  himself, 
Luke  has  it  (9  :  25).  The  soul  is  the  man's  real 
self.  That  is  his  life.  It  is  pitiful  to  care  so 
much  for  the  bodily  life  and  seek  to  save  that  and 
lose  the  real  life.  God  is  not  unjust  to  punish 
sin.  Not  to  do  so  would  upset  the  moral  uni- 
verse. Ethical  standards  would  fall.  There  would 
be  no  wrong  nor  right.     Sin  is  eternal  and  relent- 


SIN  5 1 

less,  and  the  punishment  must  be  correspondingly- 
eternal. 

Is  there  a  remedy  ?  "  Is  there  a  balm  in  Gil- 
ead  ?  Is  there  a  physician  there?"  (Jer.  8  :  22.) 
If  so,  what  is  the  balm  ?  The 
heathen  had  tried  philosophy,  and  '^^^Jg™®'^^ 
it  brought  many  noble  ethical  pre- 
cepts and  beautiful  ideals.  The  trouble  lay  in  the 
disparity  between  precept  and  performance.  The 
heathen  world  had  wandered  away  from  God  into 
the  Serbonian  bog  of  polytheism.  The  Jews  had 
special  leading  from  the  hand  of  God,  but  they 
too  hungered  for  new  gods.  The  law  as  peda- 
gogue had  with  difficulty  kept  them  in  guard  till 
Christ,  the  Schoolmaster,  should  come.  Type  had 
no  efficacy  in  itself.  Shadow  could  not  act  as 
substance.  Ceremony  and  ritual  only  symbolized 
other  things.  There  was  saving  truth  in  the  Old 
Testament,  for  the  spiritual  life  is  presented  there, 
and  the  sacrifices  pointed  to  the  great  atoning 
Sacrifice.  But  the  letter  finally  put  the  spirit  in 
bondage.  When  Christ  came,  the  Jews  could  not 
see  the  spirit  for  the  letter.  They  no  longer  saw 
the  spirit  iji  the  letter.  The  world  was  helpless 
and  hopeless. 

Our  Lord  was  not  surprised  at  his  death,  for 
he  knew  from  the  first  that  he  must  die.  He  had 
come  to  die  for  our  sins  and  in  our  stead.     His 


52  KEYWORDS    IN    THE    TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

hour  was  ever  before  him.  "The  Son  of  man 
must  suffer  many  things  and  be  slain  and  raised 
the  third  day  "  (Luke  9  :  22).  They  will  crucify 
the  Son  of  Man,  he  said.  But  "  thus  it  behooved 
the  Christ  to  suffer  and  rise  from  the  dead  the 
third  day  "  (Luke  24  :  46).  '•  Except  a  corn  of 
wheat  fall  into  the  ground  and  die,  it  abideth 
alone"  (John  12  :  24).  "I  lay  down  my  life  that 
I  may  take  it  again  "  (John  10:17).  He  came  to 
give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many.  And  it  will  not 
be  in  vain.  "And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the 
earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me"  (John  12  :  32). 
♦'  For  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his 
only  begotten  Son  that  whosoever  believeth  in 
him  should  not  perish,  but  have  eternal  life" 
(John  3  :  16).  "For  this  cause  came  I  unto  this 
hour"  (John  12  :  27).  "This  is  my  blood  of  the 
covenant,  which  is  shed  for  many  unto  remission 
of  sins"  (Matt.  26  :  28).  "Nevertheless,  not  my 
will,  but  thine  be  done  "  (Luke  22  :  42).  "  It  is 
finished"  (John  19  :  30).  Thus  Jesus  spoke  of 
his  atoning  death  for  human  sin.  Thus  he  won 
the  right  to  offer  life  to  sinners  on  the  basis  of 
his  death. 

But  there  is  one  thing  more  that  is  needed. 
This  atonement  makes  possible  reconciliation  with 
the  Father;  was,  indeed,  prompted  by  the  Father's 
love;  but  actual  reconciliation  is  not  yet  accom- 


SIN  S3 

plished  in  any  given  case  till  the  sinner  comes 
back  to  the  Father  with  confession  of  sin.  The 
prodigal  son  came  and  said,  "  Father,  /  have 
sin7ied"  (Luke  15  :  21).  That  is  the  hard  word 
to  say,  but  repentance  is  essential,  for  God  will 
not  out  of  hand  forgive  a  rebellious  sinner.  Here 
we  pass  deeper  into  the  mysteries  of  grace.  The 
sinful  soul  is  dead  and  cannot  turn  to  God  for  life. 
Yet  we  must  be  born  again  or  we  perish,  Jesus 
said  to  Nicodemus  (John  3  :  3).  The  impulse  to 
life  must  come  from  God  who  is  life,  and  life 
reaches  death  from  outside.  But  there  must  like- 
wise be  the  spiritual  response  to  the  new  life. 
The  delicate  spiritual  process  that  we  call  regen- 
eration from  God's  side  and  repentance  or  con- 
version from  man's  side  is  not  fully  unfolded. 
These  are,  however,  blessed  facts  in  the  Christian's 
life.  The  essential  thing  for  us  to  know  is  that 
forgiveness  of  sin  is  possible  in  Christ.  This 
Jesus  offers  us  and  this  we  can  find  nowhere  else. 
No  wonder  there  is  joy  in  the  presence  of  the 
angels  over  one  sinner  that  repents. 

What  is  the  remedy  that  Christ  offers  to  a 
hopeless  sinner  .?  Is  it  a  new  system  of  doctrine  } 
A  new  philosophy  }  A  new  State  }  A  new  book } 
A  new  organization  }  A  new  church  1  A  new 
ritual .''  A  new  preacher  }  A  new  idea  }  He 
wrote  no  book.     He  advanced  many  new  ideas  as 


54         KEYWORDS    IN    THE   TEACHING   OF  JESUS 

Others  had  done  ;  he  proclaimed  glorious  doctrines ; 
he  gathered  a  group  of  disciples  around  him.  He 
set  up  anew  the  kingdom  of  God.  But  in  none  of 
these  plans  do  we  find  freedom  from  sin.  Jesus 
offers  himself  as  the  Saviour  from  sin.  He  is  the 
remedy.  He  lived  a  sinless  life,  and  offered  him- 
self as  the  Lamb  without  blemish.  He  grappled 
with  sin  at  close  quarters.  With  a  perfect  life  he 
offered  a  perfect  sacrifice,  and  the  Father  is  well 
pleased.  So  the  Son  comes  to  the  sinner  and 
offers  himself  as  Saviour.  "  Ye  believe  in  God  ; 
believe  also  in  me"  (John  14  :  i).  "Come  unto 
me"  (Matt.  11  :  28).  "  And  whosoever  liveth  and 
believeth  in  me  shall  never  die "  (John  1 1  :  26). 
"  If  the  Son  shall  make  you  free,  ye  shall  be  free 
indeed  "  (John  8  :  36).  "  I  came  that  they  may 
have  life"  (John  10  :  10).  He  offers  life  to  us 
"abundantly."  We  begin  to  live  in  Christ  and 
we  go  on  living  in  Christ.  With  Jesus  ethical 
conduct  is  the  fruit  of  life,  not  life  the  fruit  of 
ethical  precepts  or  conduct.  This  is  what  sets 
Jesus  apart  from  all  else.  He  gives  us  life.  The 
old  flower  of  virtue  has  a  new  fragrance  and 
the  fruit  a  new  flavor,  for  it  grows  in  the  soil  of 
life,  not  death. 

When  the  Greeks  came  to  Philip  and  said  re- 
spectfully, "  Sir,  we  would  see  Jesus  "  (John  1 2  : 
21),  Philip  did  not  dare  comply  with  the  courteous 


SIN  55 

request.  Was  it  regular  ?  Was  it  orthodox  for 
Gentiles  to  meet  Jesus?  He  interviewed  the  usually 
wise  Andrew  on  the  grave  problem.  It  was  more 
than  both  could  settle.  They  came  to  Jesus  with 
this  problem,  but  not,  it  seems,  with  the  Greeks. 
The  soul  of  Jesus  was  greatly  troubled.  He  did  not 
seek  to  unravel  their  technical  pettifogging  scruples. 
The  cross  would  alone  break  down  the  middle 
wall  of  partition  between  Jew  and  Gentile.  Jesus 
spoke  about  his  death  and  struggled  in  prayer  with 
the  Father,  who  heard  him  and  spoke  to  comfort 
him.  "And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth, 
will  draw  all  men  unto  myself"  (John  12  :  32). 
When  men  come  to  us  and  ask  for  bread,  do  we 
give  them  a  stone .-'  When  they  seek  Jesus,  do 
we  give  our  theological  system  ?  For  orthodoxy, 
church,  preacher,  the  Bible  itself,  will  be  stumbling- 
blocks  if  they  come  between  the  soul  and  Jesus. 
"Come  unto  me,"  he  said,  "and  I  will  give  you 
rest "  (Matt.  1 1  :  28). 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE    KINGDOM 
"Thy  kingdom  come"  (Matt.  6  :  lo). 

In  selecting  key-words  around  which  to  group 
the  teachings  of  Jesus,  the  word  kingdom  is  es- 
sential. This  is  the  well-spring  of  human  blessing. 
After  the  word  sin  the  logical  and  the  necessary- 
word  is  the  kingdom,  for  thus  is  Christ  the  remedy 
for  sin.  He  gives  us  himself  and  he  is  life.  Sin 
results  in  death  and  Jesus  offers  the  water  of  life. 
When  we  take  him  the  kingdom  of  God  enters  us 
and  we  enter  it.  The  kingdom  comes  with  the 
King.  The  King  comes  when  we  let  him  rule 
over  us  as  Lord  and  Saviour. 

"  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand  "  (Matt. 

3  :  2),  John  the  Baptist  announced,  for  the  King 

was  at  hand.   The  King  himself  took 

The  Theme     ^p  the  same  cry.     "  Repent  ye  ;  for 

mi-  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand  " 

(Matt.  4  :   17).     Thus  Jesus   began 

his  Galilean  ministry,  vitally  linking  his  message 

with  that  of  John  the  Baptist,  for  he  said  :    "  The 

time   is   fulfilled"    (Matt.  4  :  17;    Mark  i  :   15). 

56 


THE    KINGDOM  57 

When  the  Twelve  were  sent  out  on  their  preaching 
tour  Jesus  said:  "As  ye  go,  preach,  saying,  The 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand"  (Matt.  lo  :  7).  He 
laid  upon  his  disciples  the  burden  of  proclaiming 
the  kingdom.  When  the  Seventy  were  sent  forth 
Jesus  said :  "  Say  unto  them,  The  kingdom  of  God 
is  come  nigh  unto  you  "  (Luke  10  :  9).  If  the 
message  was  rejected,  "howbeit  know  this,  that 
the  kingdom  of  God  is  come  nigh,"  even  i^  these 
do  reject  it.  "  The  gospel  of  God  "  is  "  the  gospel 
of  the  kingdom."  In  Matthew  we  nearly  always 
have  the  term,  kingdom  of  heaven,  but  in  the 
other  Gospels,  kingdom  of  God.  In  John  kingdom 
of  God  occurs  only  twice,  but  in  a  very  important 
connection  (John  3  :  3,  5)  in  the  conversation  with 
Nicodemus  about  the  new  birth.  Eternal  life  in  the 
Gospel  of  John  is  the  phrase  that  is  equivalent  to 
the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  synoptics.  Such  was 
the  great  theme  of  Jesus'  preaching  and  teaching, 
a  theme  that  quickened  the  pulse  of  every  Jew  who 
heard  it  discussed  by  the  king  Messiah. 

In    the  Acts  and    the  Epistles  the   expression 
does  not  occur  so  often  as  in  the  synoptic  Gospels. 
It  still  exists  and  in  the  same  sense, 
but    is    largely   displaced    by    such     The  Origin 
words    as    gospel,    salvation,    faith,     °       ®     ®^^ 
life,  and  church  in  the  general  sense.    It  is  a  com- 
prehensive and  unifying  term  for  the  gospel  prin- 


58  KEYWORDS    IN    THE  TEACHING    OF  JESUS 

ciple  and  state,  and  was  used  more  by  Jesus  than 
in  the  apostolic  time,  when  Christianity  was  more 
highly  organized  and  analyzed.  In  modern  times, 
until  lately,  Christian  writers  have  largely  dis- 
used it,  perhaps  owing  to  the  growth  of  demo- 
cratic ideas  and  an  instinctive  reluctance  to  use  a 
monarchical  term  for  Christianity  in  its  essential 
idea.  The  later  extension  of  the  word  church  in 
more  recent  times  to  great  general  organizations 
also  had  a  tendency  toward  the  disuse  of  the 
term.  But  new  accent  has  now  come  on  the 
teaching  of  Jesus,  and  that  accent  has  naturally 
brought  to  the  front  again  the  word  kingdom,  for 
it  was  the  ruling  word  of  Christ  about  his  message. 
In  the  Old  Testament  an  everlasting  kingdom  is 
promised  to  David.  "  I  will  establish  his  kingdom. 
He  shall  build  an  house  for  my  name,  and  I  will 
establish  the  throne  of  his  kingdom  forever.  .  . 
Thine  house  and  thy  kingdom  shall  be  made  sure 
forever  before  thee."  So  Nathan  spoke  to  David. 
The  words  were  understood  to  mean  an  earthly 
monarchy  that  took  the  place  of  the  theocracy  that 
had  existed  till  Saul  was  made  king  in  answer  to 
the  clamor  of  the  people  (2  Sam.  7:13,  16).  Even 
in  Ps,  89  it  is  not  clear  that  it  is  a  spiritual  king- 
dom whose  perpetuity  is  guaranteed.  "  I  have 
sworn  unto  David  my  servant.  Thy  seed  will 
I  establish  forever  and  build  up  thy  throne  to  all 


THE    KINGDOM  59 

generations"  (Ps.  89  : 3  f.).  In  Dan.  7  :  14,  18,  27 
this  everlasting  kingdom  is  promised  to  the  saints, 
who  will  come  from  all  nations  and  tongues.  It  is 
thus  a  universal  kingdom  and  not  merely  one  com- 
posed of  Jews.  It  is  universal,  and  not  merely 
Jewish,  There  is  thus  a  gradual  expansion  in  the 
use  of  the  term  till  we  find  it  in  the  mouth  of  John 
the  Baptist  and  Jesus  as  the  comprehensive  term 
for  the  work  and  rule  of  God  in  the  hearts  of  men. 
With  John  and  Jesus  the  term  kingdom  has  the 
spiritual,  not  the  national,  idea.  It  is  worth  noting 
that  nearly  all  the  distinctive  words  used  by  Jesus 
in  Matt.  16  :  18  occur  in  Ps.  89,  though  not  in 
exactly  the  same  sense.  Thus  we  have  •'* build" 
in  Ps.  89  :  4,  "ecclesia"  in  ver.  5,  "Christos"  in 
ver.  38,  "  hades  "  in  ver.  48.  The  theme  is  the 
same,  the  perpetuity  of  the  kingdom ;  the  one 
Davidic,  the  other  Messianic. 

We  must  take  all  the  senses  of  the  word  or  else 
make  exceptions.  As  Jesus  used  it,  kingdom 
means  essentially  the  reign  of  God 

in  the  heart.     Sometimes  the  idea  ^^5^°^^  i^^^f 

.  of  the  Word 

IS  possession  or  kmgly  authority  or 

kingship  ;  sometimes  the  idea  is  rather  that  of  the 

subjects  of  the  rule  of  God,  but  never  does  Jesus 

use  it  in  the  sense  of  territory  or  country.    He  does 

not  seem  to  have  the  idea  of   organization   in  the 

word  as  was  common  in  other  connections  (Matt. 


60  KEYWORDS    IN    THE    TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

12  :  25).  Sometimes  two  concepts  will  be  present 
at  once,  as  authority  and  rule,  or  rule  and  the  sub- 
jects. Reign  is  the  best  single  English  equivalent, 
but  the  world  has  become  familiar  with  the  term 
kingdom.  In  the  Old  Testament  theocracy  God 
is  king  of  the  Jews  in  the  literal  sense  of  earthly 
ruler,  for  they  had  no  other  king.  After  Saul  was 
made  king  God  is  still  the  king  in  the  higher 
spiritual  sense,  and  the  people  who  serve  him  are 
the  subjects  of  his  kingdom.  There  was  thus  a 
phrase  ready  at  hand  for  our  Master's  use.  So 
likewise  the  word  Israel  had  developed  from  the 
literal  sense  to  the  spiritual  also. 

The  Assyrian  and  the  Babylonian  captivity  in- 
augurated a  long  period  of  servitude  for  the  Jews. 
Save  during  the  glorious  Maccabean 

The  Popular    qy^l  they  never  recovered  independ- 

ewis       ea  0  Hence  the    literal  kingdom 

tne  Kingdom  ^ 

of  the  Jews  did  cease.     The  hope  of 

national  independence  then  became   the   guiding 

star  in  Jewish  politics  and  theology.     This  hope 

appears  in  the  numerous  Jewish  writings  of  the 

time,   especially  in    the  apocalypses.      After  the 

Romans  overcame  the  Jews,  freedom  from  Roman 

rule   centered   in    the    coming  of    the    Messiah. 

The  Messianic  hope  of  the  Old  Testament  prophets 

turned    to    a    glorious   Jewish    king   who   should 

set  up  his   kingdom  in  Jerusalem,  drive  out  the 


THE    KINGDOM  6l 

Romans  and  conquer  the  world,  and  introduce  a 
millennium  by  making  all  men  Jews.  This  was  the 
teaching  of  the  Jews  of  the  time.  The  greater  the 
oppression  of  their  enemies  became,  the  more 
strongly  this  hope  seized  the  Pharisees  and  the 
masses.  When  John  the  Baptist  proclaimed  on 
the  banks  of  the  Jordan,  "  Repent,  for  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  is  at  hand  "  (Matt.  3  :  2),  this  is 
what  the  people  understood  him  to  mean.  The 
hour  for  Jewish  deliverance  had  arrived.  The 
Messiah  was  now  at  hand  to  restore  Israel  to  its 
pristine  glory  and  to  spread  Judaism  all  over  the 
world.  Certainly  John  the  Baptist  had  no  such 
narrow  idea  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  "  Repent," 
he  said,  not  "  Gather  an  army."  John  was  a  student 
of  the  Old  Testament  rather  than  of  rabbinical 
theology,  and  his  teaching  is  in  the  spirit  and 
power  of  the  Old  Testament  prophets,  of  whom 
he  was  the  last.  And  he  was  full  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  He  was  the  herald  of  the  kingdom,  and 
spoke  just  before  the  full  fruition  of  his  own 
glorious  words.  He  surpasses  us  in  inherent 
greatness,  but  we  surpass  him  in  richness  of  op- 
portunity. He  was  in  the  dawn  and  we  are  in  the 
day.  He  had  God's  message  for  the  times,  not 
merely  man's  message  from  the  times.  John 
understood  the  nature  of  the  Messianic  kingdom 
and  Jesus  did  not  teach  a  Pharisaic  kingdom. 


62         KEYWORDS    IN    THE   TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

Was   there    no  kingdom   of    God  before  Jesus 

began  to  preach  ?     Surely  so,  but  the  rule  of  God 

in  the  hearts  of  men  was  on  such  a 

When  Did  limited  scale  before  this  time,  that 
■D  •  o  in  a  true  sense  the  kingdom  could 
be  said  to  begin  with  Jesus.  The 
new  epoch  in  the  kingdom  amounted  in  effect  to 
a  new  start.  "  The  law  and  the  prophets  were 
until  John"  (Luke  i6  :  i6).  He  was  a  great  mile- 
post  in  God's  dealings  with  men.  The  shadow 
came  before,  but  now  the  King  himself  is  here,  for 
Jesus  as  well  as  the  Father  is  king  in  the  king- 
dom. Hence  John  announced  that  the  kingdom 
of  God  was  at  hand  because  the  King  had  come. 

It  is  thus  that  Jesus  himself  spoke  of  the  king- 
dom as  still  future  in  one  sense.  We  shall  discuss 
this  point  directly.  But  he  also  spoke  of  it  as  a 
present  realization,  as  here  already  in  the  hearts  of 
men,  as  the  glorious  fulfilment  of  God's  promise 
to  men,  the  long-expected  Messianic  dispensation. 
Hence  he  said  that  it  was  at  hand,  had  in  fact 
come  already  to  some,  was  a  ready  blessing  for  all 
who  would  open  their  hearts  to  the  King.  The 
fact  that  Jesus  was  casting  out  demons  by  the 
Spirit  of  God  was  proof  that  the  kingdom  of  God 
was  already  come  (Matt.  12  :  28).  The  kingdom 
comes  not  as  a  great  governmental  organization 
is  set  up  over  men.     The  rather  does  the  kingdom 


THE    KINGDOM  63 

come  with  men  one  by  one  and  spreads  from  soul 
to  soul  as  the  torch  of  the  kingdom  is  passed  on. 
Now  at  last  the  fire  of  God  was  burning  in  some 
souls,  a  fire  that  would  burn  on  through  the  ages 
with  mighty  power.  The  kingdom  of  God  had 
come  among  men.  Some,  though  timid  like  Joseph 
of  Arimathea,  were  yet  •*  looking  for  the  kingdom 
of  God"  (Mark  15  :  43).  Others,  though  not  far 
from  the  kingdom  (Mark  12  :  34)  may  never  have 
entered  in. 

It  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  of  God,  the  rule  of 
God  in  the  heart.     It  was  a  woful  disappointment 
to  the  Jews  to  learn  that  Jesus  was 
only  going  to  establish   a  spiritual      What  Sort 
kingdom  with  a  spiritual  king,  and         j    jA 
not  an  actual,  visible  rule  in  Jeru- 
salem.    Satan  had  offered  to  make  Jesus  king  of 
all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  with  all  their  glory. 
It  was  a  fascinating  temptation.    Once  the  people, 
in  a  frenzy  of  enthusiasm  beside  the  sea  of  Galilee, 
tried  to  make  him  go  to  Jerusalem  and  set  up  such 
a  kingdom  (John  6:15).     We  will  "make"  him 
king,  they  cried.    But  Jesus  listened  to  God  rather 
than  to  Satan  and  the  people.     He  pushed  both 
temptations  from  him,  a  thing  that  those  religious 
leaders  have  not  done  who  have  combined  Church 
and  State  from  the  days  of  Constantine,  till  Roger 
Williams  proclaimed  religious  liberty  for  all  men. 


64  KEYWORDS    IN    THE    TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

The  great  ecclesiastical  machine  at  Rome  contro- 
verts the  fundamental  conceptions  of  Christ,  that 
the  kingdom  is  invisible  and  spiritual,  not  a  tem- 
poral and  visible  organization.  The  Pharisees 
grew  impatient  with  Jesus,  and  wished  to  force  his 
hand  about  the  kingdom  and  asked  "  when  the 
kingdom  of  God  conieth."  His  answer  is  signifi- 
cant for  all  time  :  "  The  kingdom  of  God  cometh 
not  with  observation  :  neither  shall  they  say,  Lo, 
here!  or,  There!  for  lo,  the  kingdom  of  God  is 
within  you"  (Luke  17  :  20 f.).  So  the  correct 
translation,  not  "among  you,"  In  one  of  the  Oxy- 
rhynchus  Sayings  of  Jesus  exactly  this  construction 
occurs  where  the  context  makes  "  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  within  you"  necessary,  "You"  here  does 
not  have  to  mean  the  unsaved  Pharisees,  but  only 
those  in  whom  the  kingdom  of  God  actually  exists. 
In  the  mind  of  Christ  the  kingdom  has  a  spiritual 
content.  It  is  related  to  repentance  and  is  a  spir- 
itual experience.  In  a  word,  the  kingdom  of  God 
signifies  to  a  man  the  entrance  upon  and  the  enjoy- 
ment of  eternal  life.  He  carries  the  kingdom  of 
God  in  his  ov/n  bosom.  He  is  enveloped  in  the 
riches  of  the  reign  of  God.  It  is,  indeed,  God's 
good  pleasure  to  give  us  the  kingdom  (Luke 
12  :  32);  he  has  given  us  the  very  keys  of  the 
kingdom  (Matt,  16  :  19),  but  in  giving  us  the  king- 
dom he  has  given  us  the  bread  of  heaven,  not 


THE    KINGDOM  65 

earthly  or  ecclesiastical  power.  We  have  seen  the 
kingdom  come  in  power  (Mark  9:1),  but  it  is  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  not  of  human  authority. 
There  are  greater  and  less  in  the  kingdom  of  God, 
but  not  as  John  and  James  supposed  (Matt.  20  :  2 1). 
The  high  place  will  belong  to  him  who  is  most 
like  the  Master  in  the  spirit  of  service  (Matt. 
5  :  19;  18  :  I,  4).  This  one  is  alone  great  in  the 
kingdom  of  God. 

In  giving  the  characteristics  of  those  who  are 
in  the  kingdom,  in  what  we  call  the  Beatitudes 
at  the  beginning  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount 
(Matt.  5  :  3-12),  Jesus  laid  emphasis  on  the  inner 
state  of  the  heart  as  the  true  source  of  happiness. 
"  Happy  are  the  poor  in  spirit"  ;  "happy  are  they 
that  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness " ; 
"  happy  are  the  pure  in  heart,"  he  said.  It  was  a 
revolutionary  and  incomprehensible  idea  to  the 
sacramental  Pharisee  and  the  materialistic  Roman 
and  intellectual  Greek.  Nobody  thought  this  was 
happiness  and  few  wanted  it.  But  this  is  the 
very  essence  of  Christianity.  It  does  bring  peace 
and  happiness  to  the  heart  and  so  to  the  man,  for 
the  soul  is  the  man,  "  Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom 
of  God"  (Matt.  6  :  33),  said  Jesus.  This  is  the 
primal  thing  in  time  and  rank.  First  the  king- 
dom, then  the  righteousness ;  first  the  kingdom, 
then  earthly  good.     First  the  kingdom,  then  the 


66  KEYWORDS    IN    THE   TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

local  church.  If  no  kingdom  there  is  no  use 
for  the  local  church.  This  is  what  we  call  a  re- 
generated church-membership.  The  local  church 
is  the  great  God-appointed  agency  for  the  spread 
of  the  kingdom,  but  it  is  not  the  kingdom  and  is 
not  equal  to  the  kingdom  (not  one  and  not  all  local 
churches).  Jesus  did  not  establish  local  churches 
as  divine  institutions,  and  then  save  people  so  that 
the  churches  could  have  members  in  them.  He 
saved  people,  put  the  kingdom  of  God  in  them, 
and  then  put  them  in  local  churches  to  go  to  work 
for  God.  The  local  church  is  a  regiment  in  the 
army  and  may  have  traitors  in  it.  It  is  a  fighting 
machine  to  fight  the  devil,  however,  and  not  be. 
lievers.  The  kingdom  is  the  cause  for  which  the 
local  churches  battle.  The  kingdom,  then,  is  com- 
posed of  all  the  saved  who  are  ruled  by  Christ  the 
Lord  and  who  serve  him. 

It  is  not  strange  that  the  words  of  Jesus  were 
perverted  by  his  enemies.  These  very  men  who 
should  have  been  able  to  lead  men  into  the  king- 
dom, not  simply  were  blind  themselves  to  spiritual 
light,  but  they  hindered  those  who  wished  to  find 
God.  They  shut  the  door  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  before  men  (Matt.  23  :  14).  This  is  the 
pathos  and  the  pity  of  the  situation.  The  ac- 
credited guides  of  heaven  had  become  stumbling- 
blocks  to  keep  people  out  of  heaven      Jesus  had 


THE    KINGDOM  67 

to  reach  the  people  of  the  time  over  the  heads  of 
the  religious  teachers  and  even  in  opposition  to 
them.  They  were  angry  with  him  for  not  being 
a  temporal  king,  and  so  before  Pilate  they  charged 
him  with  making  himself  a  king  as  a  rival  to 
Caesar,  the  very  thing  that  they  were  angry  with 
him  for  not  doing.  Poor  Pilate  was  hopelessly  be- 
fuddled when  Jesus  said  :  "  My  kingdom  is  not  of 
this  world  "  (John  18  :  36).  His  kingdom  was  that 
of  truth  and  did  not  encroach  on  the  realm  of 
Caesar.  Even  the  disciples  could  not  compre- 
hend it.  "  Unto  you  is  given  the  mystery  of  the 
kingdom  of  God"  (Mark  4  :  11),  but  it  was  hard 
for  them  to  see  into  the  mystery.  Even  just 
before  the  ascension  of  Christ  they  will  say : 
"  Lord,  dost  thou  at  this  time  restore  the  kingdom 
to  Israel  ?  "  (Acts  i  :  6.)  It  is  not  until  the  great 
Pentecost  that  the  disciples  will  fully  understand, 
but  after  that  day  they  will  joyfully  proclaim  the 
kingdom  of  God  to  men. 

The  self-complacent  Pharisees  thought  that  the 
kingdom  of  God  belonged  to  them  by  right  of  in- 
heritance.    "  We  have  Abraham  to 
our  Father  "  (Matt.  3  :  9).     It  was      How  Does 
incomprehensible  and  revolutionary     tt'     ^      7 
to  be  told  by  both  John  and  Jesus 
that  they  should  "  repent."    They  listened  eagerly 
to  the  statement  that  the  kingdom  of  God  was  at 


68  KEYWORDS    IN    THE    TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

hand,  but  failed  to  grasp  the  spiritual  and  ethical 
significance  of  its  necessary  condition.  And  even 
in  our  English  translation  we  have  an  unfortunate 
rendition  in  '*  repent,"  a  word  that  accents  an 
emotion  connected  with  this  profound  spiritual 
revolution  rather  than  the  spiritual  change  itself. 
The  scribe  should  be  instructed  in  the  kingdom 
of  God  (Matt.  13  :  52).  Nicodemus  failed  utterly 
to  understand  the  fundamental  words  of  Jesus  : 
"  Except  a  man  be  born  anew  (or  from  above),  he 
cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God "  (John  3  :  3). 
The  new  birth  is  not  only  essential  to  entrance 
into  the  kingdom,  but  the  new  birth  is  of  heavenly 
origin  and  is  spiritual  in  character.  Paradoxical 
as  it  may  appear,  the  only  way  for  us  to  enter  the 
kingdom  is  for  the  kingdom  to  enter  us.  The 
kingdom  of  God  is  within  us.  The  kingdom  comes 
in  with  the  King.  May  we  let  the  King  come  in 
and  rule  our  hearts.  When  we  let  God  into  our 
hearts,  then  the  kingdom  comes  to  us  and  we 
enter  it.  We  come  in  as  little  children  with  the 
spirit  of  childlike  trust  and  simplicity,  for  of  such 
is  the  kingdom  (Mark  10  :  14).  Simplicity  and 
singleness  characterize  the  child's  entrance  into 
the  kingdom.  Hence  the  child  is  the  type.  There 
will,  of  course,  be  earnestness,  for  "the  kingdom  of 
heaven  suffereth  violence  and  the  violent  take  it 
by  force"    (Matt.  11  :  12).     And   no  wonder,  if 


THE    KINGDOM  6$ 

men  only  knew  that  it  is  better  to  enter  the 
kingdom  of  God  lame  and  halt  than  with  both 
feet  and  both  hands  to  go  to  hell  (Mark  9  :  47). 
It  is  hard  for  some  men  to  get  into  the  kingdom, 
for  they  wish  to  carry  their  sins  with  them.  The 
rich,  especially,  find  it  difficult,  as  hard  as  for  a 
camel  to  go  through  the  eye  of  a  needle.  That  is, 
with  men  it  is  impossible  for  rich  men  to  be  saved. 
But  with  God  all  things  are  possible  and  there  is 
hope  for  them  (Matt,  19  :  26).  But  Jesus  did  not 
mean  by  this  to  say  that  the  poor  man  would  find 
the  door  of  heaven  open  to  him  because  he  was 
poor.  Lazarus  is  not  in  Abraham's  bosom  because 
he  is  poor.  Some  will  be  not  far  from  the  king- 
dom and  yet  may  turn  back  (Mark  12  :  34),  and 
the  one  who  looks  back  is  not  fit  for  the  kingdom. 
Not  every  one  that  thought  he  was  in  the  kingdom 
would  realize  this  greatest  blessing.  "  Not  every 
one  that  saith  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  the  king- 
dom" (Matt.  7  :  21).  There  will  be  surprises  in 
heaven.  Indeed,  said  Jesus,  the  righteousness  of 
men  must  exceed  that  of  the  scribes  and  the 
Pharisees,  else  they  would  in  no  case  enter  the 
kingdom  (Matt.  5  :  20),  for  the  very  harlots  go 
into  the  kingdom  of  God  before  them  (Matt.  21  : 
31),  so  hard  was  it  for  the  Jewish  ecclesiastical 
leaders  to  realize  their  own  sinfulness.  But  to  this 
day  it  is  difficult  for  men  to  apprehend  the  true 


yO  KEYWORDS    IN    THE   TEACH IHG    OF   JESUS 

spiritual  value  of  Christianity  apart  from  ecclesias- 
ticism  and  ceremonialism.  To  establish  this  con- 
ception cost  Jesus  the  hate  of  the  Pharisees.  To 
maintain  it  meant  the  death  of  Stephen  and  for 
Paul  the  battle  of  his  life.  To  restore  it  and  pre- 
serve it  is  the  true  Protestant  principle.  This  vital 
conception  of  Christianity  can  only  survive  as  one 
sees  Christ  as  the  revelation  of  the  Father. 

It  is  both  present  and  future.     The  reign  of 

God  is  already  in  the  hearts  of  men.    The  kingdom 

is  realized  whenever  and  wherever 

Is  the  King-    a  sinner  turns  to  Christ  for  salva- 

dom  Present    ^Jq^  and  finds  him.     "  Repent,  for 
or  future?       .       .  .      .  .    _    ,    .  ,        ,  ,, 

the   kmgdom  of   God  is  at  hand 

(Matt.  3  :  2).  It  dawns  with  the  new  birth  and 
repentance.  And  yet  Jesus  spoke  also  of  the  king- 
dom coming  in  the  future.  He  spoke  thus  :  "Till 
they  see  the  kingdom  of  God  come  "  (Mark  9:1); 
"  till  I  drink  it  anew  in  the  kingdom  "  ;  "  till  it  be 
fulfilled  in  the  kingdom  of  God  "  (Luke  22  :  16,  18). 
The  fulness  and  the  richness  of  the  reign  of  God 
are  still  ahead  of  us.  In  heaven  above  we  shall  sit 
down  with  Jesus  in  the  full  glory  of  God's  rule,  or 
kingdom.  We  shall  see  Abraham  in  the  king- 
dom of  God  (Luke  13  :  28).  Till  then  the  king- 
dom is  coming  more  and  more.  It  is  gratuitous  to 
charge  Jesus  with  inconsistency  and  incoherence, 
because  he  had  two  points  of  view  concerning  the 


THh-   KINGDOM  71 

kr/igdom.  Language  is  not  a  perfect  expression 
of  ideas,  and  it  is  very  common  for  words  to  have 
a  larger  and  a  smaller  content.  One  can  use  a 
term  now  in  the  full  and  now  in  the  narrower 
sense,  and  trust  to  the  common  sense  of  people  to 
see  the  difference.  But  for  this,  speech  would  be, 
indeed,  the  art  of  concealing  thought.  The  king- 
dom of  God  will  not  be  fully  come  till  the  struggle 
with  sin  is  over  and  all  the  elect  are  gathered  to  the 
King.  Then  the  kingdom  will  be  wholly  in  heaven. 
Till  then  the  kingdom  of  God  is  on  earth  and  in 
heaven,  present  and  future,  come  and  coming. 

The  wonderful  parables  of  the  kingdom  set  forth 
the  origin,  character,  and  final  consummation  of 
the   kingdom.       There   are    chiefly 
three  groups  of  them  as  spoken  by    "^^^  G-radual 
Jesus,  two  in  Matthew  (and  Mark)       Kinffdom 
and  one  in  Luke.     The  kingdom  of 
heaven   is  like,  said  Jesus,  the  grain  of  mustard 
seed  in  its  small  beginning  and  great  destiny ;  like 
the  leaven  in  the  meal  in  its  pervasive  and  inten- 
sive power ;  like  the  pearl  in  its  preciousness  ;  like 
the   hid  treasure    in  arousing   interest ;    like  the 
sower  sowing  seed  in  that  some  seed  is  blessed 
and  some  is   not ;   like  the  silent  and  wondrous 
growth  of  the  grain  by  night  in  its  mystery  and 
power  ;  like  the  field  that  contains  wheat  and  tares, 
or  the  net  with  fishes  good  and  bad,  in  that  the 


72  KEYWORDS    IN    THE    TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

kingdom  exists  in  a  world  full  of  sin  and  where 
the  evil  one  is  active.  But  in  the  midst  of  sin  the 
kingdom  grows,  overcoming  sin,  driving  it  out 
here  and  there,  spreading  the  power  of  Christ.  It 
is  slow  work,  but  it  is  sure  work.  The  kingdom  is 
not  the  world,  nor  of  the  world,  but  in  the  world. 
The  kingdom  is  here  to  transform  the  world  and 
restore  it  to  Christ.  But  some  tares  will  grow  in 
the  midst  of  the  wheat  to  the  end.  But  they  will 
still  be  tares  and  will  be  separated  then,  not  now. 
The  field  where  the  kingdom  works  is  the  world, 
but  Satan  is  busy  in  the  same  field.  This  slow 
expansion  of  the  kingdom  of  God  during  the  Chris- 
tian centuries  is  one  of  the  most  magnificent 
things  in  history.  The  mustard  seed  has  spread 
its  branches  all  over  the  world.  The  leaves  of  the 
tree  of  life  have  fallen  among  all  nations.  Jesus 
followed  the  law  of  life  and  not  of  mechanical  con- 
trivance. He  implanted  spiritual  life  in  the  hearts 
of  some  men  and  this  life  has  reproduced  itself  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  in  spite  of  all  opposition.  The 
kingdom  of  God  is  to-day  the  most  vital  reality  of 
earth.  No  man  can  touch  it,  for  it  is  like  life. 
And  yet,  like  life,  it  is  indestructible.  The  laws 
of  the  kingdom  are  immutable  and  inscrutable. 
No  one  knows  how  the  blade  of  corn  grows  nor 
how  the  kingdom  of  God  vitalizes  sinful  hearts 
into  life.     But  we  rejoice  in  the  presence  of  the 


THE    KINGDOM  73" 

supreme  fact  of  the  majesty  and  magnitude  of  the 

kingdom  on  earth  to-day,  the  power  that  makes  for 

righteousness. 

The  kingdom  of  God  would  be  taken  from  the 

Jews  because  they  were  not  worthy,  Jesus  said 

(Matt.   21    :  43),  but  the  kingdom 

itself  would  go  on  and  increase  in     ^^^  Perma- 
„  ,  ^,  111  nence  of  the 

power.     Some  of  the  so-called  sons       Kinedom 

of  the  kingdom  will  never  see  it. 
This  was  a  mighty  revolution  to  take  the  king- 
dom of  God  away  from  the  Jews.  The  apostolic 
history  answers  this  prophecy  and  so  does  modern 
history.  It  goes  from  nation  to  nation.  It  is  an  eter- 
nal kingdom  and  was  prepared  before  the  foundation 
of  the  world  (Matt.  25  :  34).  In  Dan.  7  :  27  it  is 
called  an  everlasting  kingdom,  in  accordance  with 
the  promise  to  David.  And  Jesus,  apparently  with 
this  glorious  promise  in  mind,  interpreted  in  the 
Messianic  sense,  and  especially  as  set  forth  in 
Ps.  89,  said  to  Peter  that  the  gates  of  hades  should 
not  prevail  against  his  church.  The  kingdom  bears 
no  direct  parallel  to  the  local  churches,  for  all 
members  of  the  local  churches  are  not  members  of 
the  kingdom.  They  should  be,  to  be  sure,  for  we 
should  have  a  regenerated  local  church-membership, 
but  that  is  not  always  the  actual  fact.  So  appar- 
ently what  Jesus  in  Matt.  16:18  calls  •'  my  church," 
in  the  next  verse  he  calls  "the  kingdom,"  whose 


74         KEYWORDS    IN    THE  TEACHING   OF   JESUS 

keys  he  gives  to  Peter  and  to  every  preacher  and 
teacher  of  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom  who  opens  the 
door  of  salvation  to  the  unsaved.  The  gates  of  hades 
shall  not  prevail  against  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 
This  parallel  between  the  general  sense  of  church 
and  the  kingdom  applies  to  only  one  sense  of  king- 
dom, that  of  the  subjects  of  the  rule  of  God.  This 
seems  to  be  the  case  here,  though  it  is  used  in 
other  ways  not  applicable  to  the  general  sense 
of  the  word  church.  One  sense  of  church  and 
one  sense  of  kingdom  are  co-extensive.  This  great 
temple  has  been  steadily  rising  all  over  the  world, 
the  spiritual  house  of  God  (i  Peter  2  :  5).  It  is  the 
stone  cut  out  of  the  mountain  that  will  overturn 
and  overturn. 

Satan  offered  Christ  a  short  and  easy  road  to 
the  conquest  of  the  world.     He  showed  him  all 

the  kingdoms  of  the  world  and  the 

The  Pinal      glory  of  them.     "  All  these  will  I 

Kingdom      ^^^^  thee,  if  thou  wilt  fall  down  and 

worship  me"  (Matt.  4  :  g).  That 
was  all;  just  acknowledge  the  sovereignty  and 
power  of  Satan  and  there  would  be  no  conflict.  This 
is  always  the  plea  of  the  compromiser.  But  Jesus 
chose  the  hard  and  the  long  road  that  led  to  the 
cross.  He  would  found  his  kingdom  in  his  heart's 
blood  and  in  the  love  of  the  children  of  God. 
This  would  bring  sacrifice  and  humiliation  for  him 


THE    KINGDOM  75 

and  ceaseless  struggle  till  final  victory  should  come. 
But  he  would  win  in  the  end.  The  time  will  come 
when  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  have  become  the 
kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  his  Christ  (Rev.  1 1  :  15). 
That  will  be  heaven  indeed.  We  shall  then  see 
the  Son  of  Man  come  in  his  kingdom  (Matt. 
16  :  28).  Then  we  shall  eat  and  drink  with  him 
(Luke  22  :  30).  This  kingdom  was  prepared  for 
us  from  before  the  foundation  of  the  world  (Matt. 
25  :  34),  and  we  shall  realize  our  inheritance  with 
Jesus  in  heaven.  Jesus  saw  the  victory  before  it 
comes.  He  had  the  sublime  faith,  the  opti- 
mistic vision  to  see  beyond  the  grave,  beyond  the 
long  conflict  with  Satan,  to  the  full  and  final  tri- 
umph in  the  end,  when  the  redeemed  shall  be 
gathered  together  as  wheat  out  of  the  tares.  It  is 
the  privilege  of  the  believer  to  catch  the  enthusiasm 
of  this  hope  and  to  share  in  the  struggle  for  this 
glorious  end.  Till  then  our  work  is  to  battle  with 
Satan,  as  did  Jesus  and  as  does  Jesus  now,  for  in 
heaven  he  is  still  our  Captain,  leading  the  hosts  on 
earth  through  the  Holy  Spirit  and  planning  the 
greatest  campaign  of  the  ages,  the  campaign  of 
righteousness  against  sin.  The  kingdom  of  God  is 
in  deadly  conflict  with  the  kingdom  of  Satan. 
"  Lo,  I  am  with  you  all  the  days  "  (Matt.  28  :  20). 
He  is  leading  us  to  victory.  "Then  shall  the 
righteous  shine  forth  as  the  sun  in  the  kingdom  of 


'](>         KEYWORDS    IN    THE   TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

the  Father"  (Matt.  13  :  43).  Here  is  the  main- 
spring in  missionary  endeavor,  the  sure  final  vic- 
tory of  light  over  darkness,  of  Christ  over  Satan. 
It  is  not  bounded  by  race  ties  nor  by  national 
lines.  They  shall  come  from  the  East  and  from 
the  West,  from  the  North  and  from 
AOosmopoli-  t^g  South,  and  sit  down  in  the 
tan  Kingdom  ^^^^^^^^  ^^^^^^  g  .  „)  jhe  indi- 
vidual is  the  unit  in  the  kingdom.  It  is  composed 
of  redeemed  individuals,  not  of  local  churches,  not 
of  denominations,  not  of  nations,  not  of  races.  In 
Christ  Jesus  there  is  no  difference,  and  Christ  is 
all  and  in  all.  As  the  individual  is  the  unit,  so 
the  ultimate  responsibility  rests  on  the  individual. 
The  local  church  should  work  for  the  spread  of 
the  kingdom.  That  is  what  it  exists  for.  But  a 
sleepy  or  dead  church  does  not  absolve  the  indi- 
vidual Christian  from  responsibility.  The  com- 
placent report  of  a  dead  church  to  the  district  Asso- 
ciation cannot  release  a  live  Christian  from  his  duty. 
The  standard  of  duty  in  the  work  of  the  kingdom 
is  the  ideal  of  Christ  for  each  of  us.  But  those 
who  come  from  North  and  East,  South  and  West, 
will  all  come  in  the  same  way.  Jesus  is  the  way 
to  the  Father,  and  there  is  no  private  door  into  the 
kingdom,  save  through  him.  "  Are  there  few  that 
be  saved.?"  (Luke  13  :  23  f.).  That  question  was 
asked  Jesus,  and  his  answer  was  for  men  to  strive 


THE    KINGDOM  TJ 

themselves  to  enter  in  by  the  narrow  door.  The 
problem  for  each  of  us  is  to  find  God  the  Father 
through  Christ  the  Son,  and  thus  receive  life,  and 
that  abundantly.  And  it  is  a  personal  problem. 
The  kingdom  has  a  social  side,  but  only  as  indi- 
viduals are  reached.  A  regenerated  society  is  the 
goal,  and  comes  only  by  saving  individuals.  We 
shall  hasten  the  kingdom  of  God,  just  as  we  realize 
the  kingdom  ourselves,  and  seek  to  win  other  indi- 
viduals to  the  service  of  God.  That  is  the  secret. 
Eternal  life  is  the  possession  of  every  believer, 
whether  Jew  or  Gentile.  Let  the  King  come  in 
his  beauty  and  let  us  greet  him  in  the  way.  If 
this  view  of  the  kingdom  sounds  like  Utopia  it  is 
possible  in  Christ.  If  we  are  to  enjoy  the  king- 
dom of  God  in  heaven  we  must  enjoy  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  here.  Jesus  taught  us  to  pray  :  "  Thy 
kingdom  come  ;  thy  will  be  done,  as  in  heaven,  so 
on  earth  "  (Matt.  6  :  lo).  We  should  help  answer 
our  own  prayer  for  the  spread  of  the  kingdom  of 
God.  So  shall  we  realize  the  highest  good  for 
ourselves  and  for  the  world. 


CHAPTER  V 

RIGHTEOUSNESS 

"Do  not  your  righteousness  before  men"  (Matt.  6  :  i). 

Doctor  Stalker  says  that  in  the  mouth  of  Jesus 
righteousness  carries  the  same  idea  that  virtue 
did  with  the  ancients,  only  it  is  higher.  The 
world  has  too  high  an  idea  of  sin  and  too  low  an 
idea  of  righteousness.  Jesus  uses  the  word  virtue 
not  at  all,  but  the  idea  pervades  all  he  says.  He 
uses  the  word  righteous  or  righteousness  seldom, 
yet  it  is  just  this  rectitude  that  he  sought  to  create 
in  us.  Character  is  our  modern  word  for  it,  as 
Doctor  Stalker  says,  but  here  again  we  do  not  find 
that  Jesus  ever  used  such  a  word.  The  righteous 
man,  6  dcxaio^,  was  the  man  who  walked  in  the  way 
pointed  out  by  God  to  be  correct.  In  this  sense 
Zacharias  and  Elisabeth  were  called  "righteous 
before  God"  (Luke  i  :  6),  without  meaning  to 
claim  sinlessness  for  them,  but  only  uprightness 
j  of  character.  Salvation  by  character  is  not  taught 
by  Christ,  though  high  character  is  just  what  he 
seeks  to  create  in  men.  He  gradually  perfects  in 
us  real  likeness  to  himself. 
78 


RIGHTEOUSNESS  79 

This  is  clearly  what  Jesus  had  in  mind  as  the 

subject  of  the  greatest  of  his  discourses.    "  Except 

your  righteousness  shall  exceed  the 

righteousness    of    the    scribes    and  '^^^  Theme  of 
T,,      •  111-  •  J.         the  Sermon 

Pharisees,  ye  shall  ni  no  wise  enter    q^  t^e  Mount 

into  the  kingdom  of  heaven"  (Matt. 
5  :  20).  "Your  righteousness"  is  the  thing  that 
he  is  after.  "  Blessed  are  they  that  hunger  and 
thirst  after  righteousness  "  (Matt.  5  :  6),  he  had 
just  said,  "for  they  shall  be  filled."  It  is  possible 
to  obtain  this  righteousness ;  nay,  those  who 
hunger  after  it  will  get  it.  By  righteousness  Jesus 
means  righteous  living  and  not  justification.  It 
is  sanctification  as  set  forth  in  Rom.  6-8,  rather 
than  justification,  as  expounded  in  Rom.  3-5. 
Practical  righteousness  is  the  theme  of  the  Epistle 
of  James  and  is  emphasized  in  the  preaching  of 
John  the  Baptist.  But  it  is  a  practical  righteous- 
ness that  is  the  fruit  of  the  spiritual  life.  It  may 
be  well  to  sketch  in  outline  this  great  sermon  so  as 
to  catch  its  spirit,  since  the  larger  part  of  Christ's 
teaching  on  righteousness  is  contained  in  it. 

The  introduction  (Matt.  5  : 3-16 ;  Luke  6  :  20-26) 
shows  the  character  of  people  who  are  in  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  Spiritual  qualities  are  em- 
phasized entirely,  such  as  longing,  humility,  purity, 
etc.  The  theme  of  the  discourse  (Matt.  5  :  17-20) 
is  the  righteousness  brought  in  by  the  kingdom  of 


J' 


8o         KEYWORDS    IN    THE   TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

heaven  as  superior  to  that  of  the  rabbinical  teach- 
ers. The  rest  of  the  sermon,  save  the  end,  is 
argument  and  illustration  of  this  proposition  (Matt. 

5  :  21  to  7  :  12  ;  Luke  6 :  31,  36-42) 

The     conclusion     (Matt.     7    :     13-29;     Luke 

6  :  43-49)  presents  the  final  test  at  the  judg- 
ment to  be  the  righteousness  wrought  out  in  the 
heart  and  life.  Righteousness  is  the  fruit  of  the 
kingdom  and  is  the  proof  of  the  kingdom. 

To  the  people  at  the  time  it  was  revolutionar3^ 

They  had  never  heard  spiritual  morality  put  thus 

before — so  genuine,  so  inward,   so 

oi^„ifl^„^„„     vital,  so  profound,  so  noble,  so  ideal, 
ibigniiicaiice  >       r-  >  ' 

of  Christ's  Here  was  the  breath  of  heaven  and 
Teaching  About  not  the  pottering  inanities  of  the 
Eighteousness  ^^^.^^^^^  ^^^  spiritual  teachers  of  the 

time.  It  is  not  true  that  it  is  merely  ethical  with 
no  spiritual  basis.  The  Beatitudes  precede  the 
discussion  of  practical  morality,  and  this  inward 
state  is  what  makes  it  possible  for  men  to  exceed 
the  righteousness  of  scribe  and  Pharisee.  Seek 
ye  first  his  kingdom,  and  his  righteousness 
(Matt.  6  :  33).  The  kingdom  comes  before  the 
righteousness  and  makes  possible  the  righteous- 
ness. It  is  impossible  to  reach  the  height  of  this 
sermon.  The  modern  teachers  of  ethics  often 
affect  indifference  to  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  be- 
cause he  did  not  put  his  ideas  in  scientific  phrase. 


RIGHTEOUSNESS  8 1 

It  is  a  pitiful  business,  for  Jesus  is  the  greatest 
teacher  of  ethics  of  all  the  ages.  This  discourse 
itself  makes  an  epoch  in  ethical  conceptions.  Jesus 
took  ethics  out  of  the  clouds  and  brought  it  down 
to  earth.  He  injected  life  into  the  ideas  of  mo- 
rality. He  transmutes  ideal  into  real  by  the 
alembic  of  the  Spirit.  With  Christ  the  new  heart 
stands  before  righteousness.  The  new  life  begins 
with  the  new  birth.  The  roots  of  righteousness 
strike  down  into  the  renewed  spirit  of  man.  This 
is  the  man  who  builds  his  house  upon  the  rock. 
This  house,  and  this  alone,  will  stand. 

The  scribe  was  purely  legal.     He  held  to  the 
letter  of  the  law.     The  scribe  accepted  the  Old 
Testament    in    a   literal    sense  and 
added   to    it  the  traditions    of    the      of  Christ's 
elders,  making  a  second  Bible  more  Teaching  with 
important  in  their  minds  than  the      that  of  the 
first.     The  scribe  confined  murder        ocnoes 
to  the  outward  act ;  Jesus  found  murder  in  the 
heart,  in  the  anger  that  led  to  it.     The  modern 
judge   and   jury  often   cannot    find   it   anywhere. 
The    scribe    saw    adultery    only    in    the    actual 
crime ;  Jesus  saw  it  even  in  the  licentious  look. 
The   scribe    confined  profanity  to   violent  oaths  ; 
Jesus  insisted  on  the  absence  of  superfluous  ex- 
aggerations.    The  scribe  taught  the  letter  of  the 
law  as  to  retaliation ;  Jesus    taught   forbearance 


82  KEYWORDS    IN    THE    TEACHING    OF    JESUS 

against  resentful  vengeance.  The  scribe  taught 
hate  of  one's  enemy ;  Jesus  taught  love  of  our 
enemies.  The  spirit  was  in  the  letter  of  the  Old 
Testament,  but  the  scribe  made  it  imposible  to 
get  at  the  spirit  for  the  letter.  No  wonder  that 
Jesus  charged  the  lawyers  (scribes)  with  taking 
the  key  of  knowledge  and  locking  the  door  and 
throwing  the  key  away.  Rabbinical  theology  is 
a  synonym  for  hair-splitting,  but  they  have  no 
monopoly  of  the  art.  They  would  not  go  in  them- 
selves, nor  would  they  let  others  in.  Certainly 
the  scribes  were  not  hungering  and  thirsting  after 
righteousness.  They  trusted  in  themselves  that 
they  were  righteous,  for  they  were  usually  Phari- 
sees (Luke  18:9).  Hence  when  Jesus  denounced 
the  Pharisees  at  a  feast  the  scribes  (lawyers)  took 
it  as  personal  offense  (Luke  1 1  :  37-54).  The 
Master,  to  be  impartial,  gave  the  scribes  an  equal 
number  of  woes.  The  scribes  were  a  professional 
class ;  the  Pharisees  were  a  party. 

The   Pharisees   were   advocates   of    ceremonial 

righteousness.    The  outward,  the  sacramental,  was 

all-important.      But  the  trouble  al- 

Tlie  ways  is  that  the  insistence  on  the 

ofthe  Pharisee  ^^^^^"^^^'^^     ^^^^    ^^    hypocrisy. 
Ceremonial      righteousness,      when 
merely  ceremonial,  spells    hypocritical    righteous- 
ness, which  is  the  worst  form  of  unrighteousness. 


RIGHTEOUSNESS  83 

The  world  hates  cant  and  indorses  the  judgment 
of  Christ.  In  hell  the  lowest  place  will  be  occu- 
pied by  the  hypocrite  who  fleeced  pious  people 
under  the  guise  of  Christianity.  The  Pharisee 
wished  to  get  credit  for  being  righteous.  Else 
what  was  the  use  of  being  good  ."*  He  did  not 
think  that  virtue  was  its  own  reward,  but  wished  a 
reward  for  being  good.  "  Take  heed  that  ye  do 
not  your  righteousness  before  men,  to  be  seen  of 
them"  (Matt.  6  :  i).  Thus  he  gave  alms  to  get 
glory  of  men.  If  he  had  lived  now  his  gifts  would 
always  be  in  the  papers,  religious  and  otherwise. 
Thus  he  prayed  on  the  street  corners  to  be  seen 
of  men.  Thus  he  fasted  with  a  long  countenance 
to  be  seen  of  men  to  fast.  Thus  the  Pharisees  kept 
one  eye  on  heaven  and  the  other  to  the  main  chance 
on  earth.  Thus  they  sought  to  serve  God  and 
Mammon.  Thus  they  criticised  their  neighbors 
with  pious  innocence  and  gratitude.  So  the  proud 
hypocrite  stood  in  the  temple  and  prayed  with 
himself,  not  with  God.  He  did  not  need  any- 
thing, but  gave  the  Lord  some  valuable  informa- 
tion about  his  own  graces  and  glories.  It  was  on 
the  scribes  and  Pharisees  both  that  Jesus  poured 
out  the  vials  of  his  wrath  in  the  twenty-third 
chapter  of  Matthew,  the  fiercest  philippic  of  all 
history.  Each  time  he  called  them  "  hypocrites," 
and,  as  Doctor  Stalker  has  said,  since  then  hypoc- 


84  KEYWORDS    IN    THE    TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

risy  has  been  regarded  as  the  meanest  of  sins. 
They  stand  in  the  way  of  the  kingdom,  then  and 
now.  They  make  their  proselytes  worse  than 
before,  and  they  are  already  sons  of  hell.  They 
are  blind  hair-splitters,  showing  how  to  swear  and 
not  sin.  They  lay  wrong  emphasis  on  relatively 
unimportant  things,  straining  out  gnats  and  swal- 
lowing camels,  big  camels  with  numerous  humps. 
They  care  more  for  the  outside  of  the  cup  than  for 
what  is  in  the  cup.  It  is  all-important  to  them  to 
keep  up  appearances,  even  if  they  steal  to  do  it. 
They  are  like  whited  sepulchres,  whitewashed 
tombstones.  "  Even  so  ye  also  outwardly  appear 
righteous  unto  men,  but  inwardly  ye  are  full  of 
hypocrisy  and  iniquity."  Ye  are  like  your  fathers. 
"  Ye  serpents,  ye  generation  of  vipers,  how  shall 
ye  escape  the  judgment  of  hell.-*"  Note  the 
withering  scorn  of  it  all.  Jesus  is  the  eternal  foe 
of  Pharisaism,  ancient  and  modern,  the  holier- 
than-thou  man,  the  professional  holiness  man,  the 
pretender,  the  sham,  the  fraud,  the  religious  hum- 
bug. Let  his  blistering  words  forever  burn  the 
cheeks  of  those  who  in  modern  time  prattle  the 
jargon  of  intellectual  and  verbal  orthodoxy,  but 
whose  hearts  are  heretical  and  whose  lives  reek 
with  impurity.  The  Pharisee  has  not  passed  away, 
nor  will  he  so  long  as  sin  remains.  It  is  a  contin- 
ual temptation  to  take  the  hull  for  the  kernel. 


RIGHTEOUSNESS  85 

The  Sadducee  probably  means  the  merely  right- 
eous man.  He  prides  himself  on  his  intellectual 
superiority.     He  recoiled  from  the 

noisy  Pharisee  with  all  his  airs  and  -^^^ 

1  ^      ,.^.  jj        .,   Sadducees  and 

pretensions  and  traditions.    He  said   uigi^teousness 

the  Pharisee  in  the  end  would  purify 
the  sun.  And  that  has  spots  !  He  was  simply 
righteous  himself.  He  it  was  that  Jesus  had 
specially  in  mind  when  he  said :  "  I  came  not 
to  call  the  righteous,  but  sinners"  (Matt,  9  :  13). 
Not  that  Jesus  admitted  the  reality  of  this  claim, 
but  he  simply  took  the  Sadducee  at  his  own 
estimate  of  himself,  which  was  exceedingly  high, 
and  treated  him  so  for  the  moment.  The  mar- 
ket value  of  the  Sadducees  was  bullish,  they 
being  judges.  If  our  own  price  was  the  market 
value  we  might  many  of  us  bring  a  good  round 
sum.  The  Sadducee  did  not  have  much  theology. 
Some  people  now  think  it  a  virtue  to  be  ignorant 
of  theology.  They  are  very  virtuous.  The  Sad- 
ducee chiefly  denied  the  affirmations  of  the  Phari- 
sees about  the  resurrection,  future  life,  and  angels. 
He  was  content  with  the  five  books  of  Moses, 
especially  his  own  interpretation  of  them.  He 
was  the  moralist  of  the  time,  who  cared  little  for 
creed  and  much  for  deed,  especially  his  own, 
judged  by  his  own  standards.  The  Sadducee  re- 
joiced in  pride  of  intellect  and  influential  position. 


86         KEYWORDS    IN    THE   TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

Jesus  lifted  the  whole  question  of  virtue  out  of 

the   perfunctory  and  theoretical   into  the   actual 

and  the  practical.     He  had  a  theory 

Christ's  of    righteousness,    but    it    differed 

Conception  of  ,    ,,       r           ^t. 

■Dir,\,4-L-,.cr.^cc  wholly   from   the    current    notions. 

xCignteousness  -^ 

It  was  becoming  to  him  and  us  to 
to  fulfil  all  righteousness  (Matt.  3:15),  so  he  said 
when  explaining  why  he  submitted  to  baptism  at 
the  hands  of  John  the  Baptist.  It  was  a  righteous 
thing  to  obey  the  command  of  God  through  John, 
even  when  Jesus  himself  had  no  sins  of  which  to 
repent.  He  could  not  in  his  own  case  symbolize 
death  to  sin  and  resurrection  to  newness  of  life  by 
the  water  burial.  With  Jesus  righteousness  is 
spiritual  and  inward.  Out  of  the  heart  are  the 
issues  of  life.  The  seat  of  the  ethical  life  is  the 
inner  man.  The  other  teachers  of  ethics  had  seen 
this,  but  none  had  ever  grasped  it  in  all  its  bear- 
ings as  had  Jesus.  The  ethical  problem  is  im- 
measurably complicated  by  the  fact  that,  even  as 
children,  we  are  by  nature  sinful.  The  most  solemn 
word  in  modern  science  is  heredity.  Training 
can  do  much  and  we  should  use  it  eagerly.  But 
we  wofully  deceive  ourselves  if  we  fail  to  see  the 
need  of  a  new  heart,  of  new  life,  as  the  basis  for 
righteousness. 

Jesus  teaches  inherited  sin  in  man.     This  does 
not  mean  that  children  dying  before  responsibility 


RIGHTEOUSNESS  8/ 

are  lost.  Far  from  it.  Environment  cannot 
explain  the  fact  that  all  men  are  bad  if  children 
are  naturally  good.  We  are  by  nature  sinful. 
Environment  and  culture  do  not  eliminate  the 
sinful  nature.  The  blood  of  Christ  alone  cleanses 
from  sin  through  the  Holy  Spirit.  When  God  calls 
man  or  child  he  must  answer.  That  answer  is 
conversion.  The  child  and  the  man  must  come  to 
Jesus,  for  both  need  to  come.  Thank  God  it  is 
easier  for  the  child  to  come.  Let  him  come.  How 
does  a  child  receive  the  kingdom  of  God }  He 
just  takes  it  with  simplicity.  So  we  must  become 
as  little  children  in  simple  receptiveness.  Jesus 
put  love  to  God  and  man  as  the  prime  principle  of 
human  duty.  The  Old  Testament  does  the  same, 
but  Jesus  sharpened  the  point  and  emphasized  the 
relation  between  love  to  God  and  love  to  man. 
This  is  the  sum  of  human  duty,  to  love.  This  is 
duty,  and  duties  grow  out  of  it.  To  love  God  is  ^ 
first,  but  to  love  man  follows  as  a  necessity.  To 
love  God  and  not  man  is  to  be  merely  theological 
without  heart  and  with  no  helping  hand.  To  love 
man  and  not  God  is  to  be  merely  humanitarian 
and  to  run  the  risk  of  not  being  that  long.  The 
motive  power  is  too  slight  and  soon  gives  out. 
To  love  man  is  the  second  commandment  and  not 
the  first.  It  takes  both  to  fulfil  Christ's  idea  of 
human  duty.     Both  are  essential  with  Jesus  and 


-.^ 


88  KEYWORDS    IN    THE    TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

in  the  right  order.  The  Christian's  humanitarian 
effort  is  permanent,  because  it  is  rooted  in  love  to 
God.  Hence  the  persistence  in  the  missionary 
movement. 

With  Jesus  righteousness  is  personal.  He 
preaches  civic  righteousness  surely,  and  often 
speaks  of  the  heathen  nations  or  the  Gentiles  by 
way  of  reproof  to  the  Jews  and  the  disciples. 
Social  righteousness  is  strongly  emphasized  by 
Christ.  Modern  sociology  has  not  gone  in  vain  to 
the  teaching  of  Jesus  for  light.  Several  new  books 
have  recently  appeared  on  the  social  teaching  of 
Jesus.  This  is  all  true.  Nowhere  is  the  peril  of 
riches  so  revealed  as  in  the  teaching  of  Christ. 
The  sympathy  of  Jesus  with  the  downtrodden 
classes  is  genuine  and  strong.  He  dares  to  be  a 
friend  of  publicans  and  sinnners,  the  worst  classes 
of  the  day.  But  he  never  lowered  himself  to  the 
level  of  these  classes,  nor  did  they  mistake  his 
purpose  to  help  and  elevate  them.  Jesus  under- 
stood the  hollowness  of  the  professional  religious 
teachers  of  the  time  and  denounced  them  as  a 
class.  But  none  the  less  Christ  held  men  indi- 
vidually responsible  for  their  sins.  One  of  the 
great  contributions  of  Christ  to  the  civilization  of 
the  world  is  the  discovery  of  the  individual.  The 
worth  of  the  soul  is  what  dignifies  man.  "  What 
shall  a  man  give  in  exchange  for  his  soul  .-* "    That 


RIGHTEOUSNESS  89 

question  rings  on  through  the  strife  of  class  with 
class.  Jesus  came  to  seek  and  to  save  the  lost. 
And  he  searches  for  the  lost  man  by  man.  "  He 
that  believeth  hath  eternal  life."  The  moral  re- 
sponse to  the  appeal  of  Christ  comes  out  of  the 
man's  inner  nature,  not  out  of  any  class  conditions. 
Christ's  way  to  lift  up  a  class  of  men  is  to  lift  up 
the  individuals  in  the  class.  Lazarus  is  finally 
in  Abraham's  bosom,  not  because  he  is  a  poor 
man,  but  because  he  trusted  God.  The  rich  man 
in  the  same  parable  is  in  hades  in  torment  not 
because  he  was  rich,  but  because  he  was  wicked 
and  sinful. 

With  Jesus  righteousness  is  character.  Char- 
acter is  inward,  but  it  finds  expression  in  the  out- 
ward life  which  is,  in  fact,  proof  of  the  inner  life. 
"  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them,"  Jesus 
urged.  It  is  futile  to  call  a  tree  good  if  the  fruit 
is  bad.  A  good  tree  "cannot"  bring  forth  evil 
fruit.  The  tree  is  known  by  its  fruit.  You  can 
tell  an  apple  from  a  persimmon.  This  applies  to 
the  kind  of  fruit,  and  so  to  the  general  run  of  the 
Christian's  life.  There  will  be  imperfect,  even 
rotten  fruit  on  an  otherwise  good  tree.  Fields  will 
vary  in  their  yield,  but  good  soil  will  make  some 
yield.  It  is  the  one  who  hears  and  does  the  sayings 
of  Christ,  whose  house  is  built  on  the  rock.  Christ 
put  accent  on  creed,    but  not    mere   belief   in  a 


90         KEYWORDS    IN    THE   TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

creed.  Trust  in  God,  trust  in  Christ,  not  in  a 
creed  or  system  of  faith.  Creed  comes  before 
deed,  but  the  deed  should  be  forthcoming.  Creed 
is  the  intellectual  expression  of  character  and  the 
character  is  the  crown  of  the  creed.  Character 
is  what  Jesus  wishes.  He  came  not  to  make  men 
orthodox.  That  is  an  idle  purpose  in  itself.  He 
came  to  make  men  good.  Goodness  in  life  starts 
with  right  connection  with  God.  Faith  without 
works  is  dead,  said  James.  So  said  Jesus,  so 
said  Paul. 

With  Jesus  character  determines  destiny.  "  Not 
every  one  that  saith  unto  me.  Lord,  Lord,  shall 
enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven"  (Matt.  7:21).  It 
is  easy  for  some  men  to  •'  say."  Profession  comes 
easy  with  the  flippant  and  the  mercurial  tempera- 
ment. "  He  that  doeth  the  will  of  my  Father  in 
heaven,"  he  it  is  who  shall  enter  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  at  last.  This  final  test  of  character  does 
not  destroy  the  force  of  Christ's  teaching  that  we 
must  be  born  again,  must  repent  or  be  converted. 
It  is  impossible  to  do  the  will  of  God  without  a 
new  heart.  But  then  the  supreme  proof  of  the 
new  heart  is  the  desire  to  do  God's  will.  More- 
over, the  attempt  to  do  God's  will  increases  our 
knowledge  of  the  teaching.  "  If  any  man  willeth  to 
do  his  will,  he  shall  know  of  the  teaching  "  (John 
7:17).      In  the  end  of  the  day  we  must  be  good. 


RIGHTEOUSNESS  9I 

Every  man  has  his  own  standard  of  righteous- 
ness. Every  age,  every  nation,  has  its  standard 
of  righteousness.     Ethical  teachers 

have  flourished    in    all   ages,  philo-        Varying 

,.     1        J  «.•     1        c  r     Standards  of 

sophical    and    practical.      borne   of  -p.  i , 
^  ^  _  xlignteousness 

these  teachers  affect  to  ignore  Jesus 
because  of  his  terminology.  The  conscience  itself 
records  varying  verdicts  of  right  or  wrong,  accord- 
ing to  the  light  at  hand.  But  Jesus  has  given  us 
the  absolute  standard  of  righteousness.  He  warned 
the  men  of  his  time  against  seeking  to  please  men. 
God  is  the  one  whose  favor  we  seek.  We  must 
come  up  to  God's  idea  and  ideal.  This  is  a  dis- 
couraging truth  at  first.  We  know  how  impossible 
it  is  for  us  to  satisfy  our  own  standards  of  right, 
not  to  mention  that  of  God.  We  must  stand 
in  the  white  light  of  Christ's  purity  and  at  last 
measure  up  to  his  image. 

There  is  hope  for  us.     Jesus  offers  to  give  us 
the  righteousness  which  he  demands.     This  is  his 
chief  merit  as  an  ethical  teacher.    It 
is  not  only  the  highest  ethics,  but  it     Our  Hope  for 

is  possible  ethics.     If  he  asks  for  a       Attaining 

to  Cnnst  3 
wedding  garment  he  offers  it  freely   Eighteousness 

to   all  who   will  take  it.      But  this 

righteousness  by  faith  was  a  stumbling-block  to  the 

Jew  and    foolishness   to    the   Greek.      He   offers 

himself  as  the  water  of  life  for  the  thirsty,  the 


93  KEYWORDS    IN   THE   TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

bread  of  life  to  the  hungry,  the  rest  for  the  weary, 
righteousness  for  the  sinful.  He  demands  per- 
fect righteousness  ;  he  offers  to  make  us  so.  He 
proposes  to  put  a  new  heart  in  us  to  begin  with. 
Else  it  would  be  a  useless  task. 

The  world's  ethical  teachers  begin  at  the  wrong 
end.  With  the  new  heart  Jesus  will  work  toward 
the  restoration  of  the  image  of  God.  He  will  not 
leave  us  without  help  in  that  struggle.  The  Holy 
Spirit  carries  on  the  work  of  redemption,  and  com- 
pletes the  sanctifying  process,  till  we  shall  at  last 
be  pure  in  heart  and  so  can  see  God,  for  without 
holiness  none  shall  see  God.  In  the  end  of  the  day 
the  righteousness  of  Christ  will  have  displaced  our 
filthy  rags,  and  we  shall  be  clothed  in  the  blood- 
washed  robes  of  the  joyful  throng  who  sing  the  song 
of  Moses  and  the  Lamb.  If  at  first  we  merely 
put  on  as  a  new  garment  the  righteousness  of  God 
in  Christ,  at  last  we  shall  be  like  the  garment  in 
which  we  are  clothed.  That  is  our  destiny.  For 
that  we  can  hope.  To  that  end  we  may  toil.  We 
shall  be  good,  rescued  from  the  power  of  Satan, 
the  taint  of  Satan's  rule  washed  away  by  the 
cleansing  blood  of  Jesus,  new  hearts  given  us  by 
the  Holy  Spirit,  new  characters  achieved  by  the 
help  of  the  same  Spirit,  and  finally  new  bodies  for 
our  spirits.  So  shall  we  be  fitted  for  the  home  on 
high,  to  live  with  God. 


CHAPTER  VI 


THE    HOLY    SPIRIT 


"He  shall  glorify  me,  for  he  shall  take  of  mine  and 
shall  declare  it  unto  you"  (John  i6  :  14). 

Some  may  wonder  why  the  discussion  of  the 
teaching  of  Jesus  concerning  the  Holy  Spirit  has 
been  deferred  to  this  point.  Why  was  it  not  dis- 
cussed after  the  chapter  on  the  Son  ?  That  was  a 
possible  method,  but  it  has  seemed  best  to  pursue 
the  method  of  Christ  himself  and  take  up  the  treat- 
ment of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  historical  order  of 
the  Master's  own  teaching.  This  is  the  order  of 
fact  and  we  get  thus  a  better  standpoint.  We  need 
that  standpoint  to  apprehend  this  vital  subject. 

It  was  right  at  the  very  end  of  the  life  of  Jesus 

that  he  spoke  most  about  the  Holy  Spirit.     This  is 

natural,   because  it  was   then    that 

the  Lord's  thoughts  turned  chiefly    The  Place  of 

on  the  future  of  the  kingdom.    And  *^®  ^°Jy  ^P^"^^* 

°  ,.  m  Christ's 

yet    there    is    not    wanting    earlier       Teaching 

teaching   about   the    Spirit    in    the 

words  of  Jesus.     It  is  in  the  Gospel  of  John  that 

the  later  teaching  chiefly  occurs,  while  the  earlier 

93 


94  KEYWORDS    IN    THE   TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

is  more  generally  in  the  Synoptics,  It  is  notice- 
able how  little  teaching  we  have  from  Christ  about 
the  Holy  Spirit  in  comparison  with  that  about  the 
Father.  But  we  must  remember  that  the  purpose 
of  both  the  Son  and  the  Spirit  is  to  reveal  the 
Father  to  men  and  not  themselves.  Yet  there  is 
no  ambiguity  in  the  revelations  about  the  Spirit 
nor  a  depreciation  of  his  importance.  The  rather 
he  is  magnified  and  glorified.  It  is  lamentable 
that  in  our  day  the  Holy  Spirit  should  have  been 
so  neglected  that  the  use  of  his  name  has  become 
almost  the  shibboleth  of  a  certain  stamp  of  Chris- 
tians. Whose  fault  is  it  ?  Some  so-called  Chris- 
tians even  deny  the  reality  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

The  Holy  Spirit  is  frequently  mentioned  in  the 

Old  Testament.     "  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon 

you,"  Isaiah  cried  (Isa.  6i  :  i)     So 

Not  a  _       jQgj  predicted   and  God  said  :    "  I 

New  Doctrine       .„  o   •  •  n 

will   pour   out   my    Spirit    upon  all 

flesh"  (Joel  2  :  28).  "Take  not  thy  Holy  Spirit 
from  me,"  David  prayed  in  his  great  penitential 
Psalm  (51  :  11).  The  Spirit  of  God  is  a  phrase 
often  in  the  mouth  of  the  prophets.  Still  the 
New  Testament  time  is  preeminently  the  dispen- 
sation of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  apocryphal  wis- 
dom of  Solomon  makes  frequent  mention  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  but  Jesus  has  told  us  most  about 
his  work. 


THE    HOLY    SPIRIT  95 

He  is  not  merely  an  influence  simply  because 
he  is  spoken  of  as  Spirit.  God  is  Spirit,  and  that 
argument  would  destroy  the  person- 
ality or  individuality  of  the  Father.  ^^® 
When  Jesus  calls  him  another  Com-  ^j^^  g  i  g^-^,-^ 
forter  he  clearly  sets  forth  another 
person  on  a  par  with  himself.  When  Jesus  gave 
the  Great  Commission  he  commanded  baptism  in 
the  name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit.  If 
the  Father  and  Son  are  persons,  so  is  the  Spirit. 
We  are  not  able  to  give  an  adequate  definition  of 
person  as  applied  to  the  Trinity,  nor  for  that 
matter  can  we  adequately  describe  person  at  all. 
The  word  means  mask,  then  a  part  played,  then 
the  one  who  plays  a  part,  the  individual.  We 
know  that  we  are  ourselves  separate  beings,  en- 
dowed with  individual  characteristics  and  re- 
sponsibilities, though  enjoying  all  of  us  a  common 
nature.  One  of  our  first  lessons  is  the  difference 
between  menni  and  tutim.  Some  persons  never 
learn  it.  In  the  will  we  place  the  seat  of  conscious 
power,  but  clear  analysis  eludes  the  psychologist 
who  searches  for  the  spirit  of  man  or  of  God. 
The  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  likewise  conclusive 
proof  that  he  is  personal,  and  not  merely  an  influ- 
ence. The  Holy  Spirit  bears  witness  with  our 
spirits  and  dwells  in  us.  The  Trinity  is  thus  clearly 
taught,  one  God  and  three  persons. 


96         KEYWORDS    IN    THE    TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

The  Holy  Spirit  is  the  Spirit  of  God  who  is 

himself   spirit.      It    was    the  Spirit  of    God  who 

descended  on  Jesus  at  his  baptism, 

Eelation       jj^g    Father    will    send   the    Holy 

to  the  Father    „   .  .         ,  ^  .  ^     "' 

Spirit    when    Jesus    is    gone   from 

earth.  The  Spirit  proceeds  from  the  Father,  The 
Son  returns  to  the  Father  and  the  Spirit  comes 
from  the  Father.  The  Holy  Spirit  was  in  the 
world  in  some  measure  before  the  ascension  of 
Christ,  but  it  was  at  Pentecost,  the  great  Pente- 
cost, that  the  Holy  Spirit  came  in  fulness  and 
power.  John  had  said  that  Jesus  would  baptize 
with  the  Spirit,  but  the  promise  was  not  fully 
realized  till  Jesus  went  up  on  high.  The  Spirit 
was  not  incarnate  as  Christ  and  the  "  bodily  form," 
like  a  dove,  at  the  baptism  was  temporary  and 
symbolic,  but  he  dwells  in  the  Christian,  in  indi- 
viduals, and  in  churches,  God  gives  not  the 
Spirit  by  measure,  but  in  richness  and  power.  As 
Jesus  revealed  the  Father  while  on  earth,  so  the 
Spirit  continues  that  glorious  work  and  with  a 
great  advantage.  Jesus,  having  human  form,  was 
here  and  not  there,  but  the  Spirit  having  no  bodily 
form  is  omnipresent,  i.  e.,  he  can  dwell  in  every 
Christian  at  the  same  time.  Moreover,  Jesus 
could  not  stay  on  earth  always.  But  the  Holy 
Spirit  will  be  with  us  forever.  The  term  Holy 
used  so  often  before  Spirit  has  its  fullest  contrast. 


THE    HOLY   SPIRIT  97 

He  is  absolutely  holy  and  so  differs  from  our 
spirit,  as  Jesus  said,  "  Holy  Father."  He  is  not 
only  the  Spirit  of  God,  but  is  God,  Spirit  is 
more  nearly  the  idea  than  Ghost,  which  in  modern 
English  brings  up  the  picture  of  death.  He  is  the 
Spirit  of  life,  and  not  the  ghost  of  death.  Not 
only  does  the  Father  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  them 
that  ask  him,  but  he  is  more  ready  to  do  so  than 
an  earthly  father  is  to  give  good  gifts  to  those  who 
ask  him.  Do  we  ask  the  Father  for  this  high 
and  holy  gift  .•*  The  new  yearning  for  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  our  time  is  cause  for  gratitude. 

The  mystery  of  the  incarnation  of  Christ  is  re- 
vealed as  wrought  by  the  Holy  Spirit.     On  this 
point  Jesus,  of  course,  says  nothing. 
But  both  Matthew  and  Luke  testify  delation  of  the 
to  the   brooding  investiture  of  the        to  Je^a 
Holy  Spirit,    by  whose  power   the 
Word  was  made  flesh  and  so  he  was  born  of  woman. 
The  union  of  the  divine  and  the  human  natures  in 
Christ  is  the  great  mystery  of  his  person.     We 
know  that  this  essential  fact  in  the  Redeemer's 
incarnation  is  due  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  but  we  must 
leave  it  in  mystery, 

Jesus  in  his  human  life  was  under  the  guidance 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  a  special  way.  The  descent 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  at  the  baptism  was  not  the  be- 
ginning of  this  influence  upon  him,  but  was  rather 


98  KEYWORDS    IN    THE    TEACHING    OF    JESUS 

the  formal  entrance  upon  the  Messianic  mission. 
John  was  to  know  the  Messiah  by  this  descent. 
Jesus  was  led  of  the  Spirit  into  the  wilderness  to 
be  tempted  of  the  devil.  He  went  into  Galilee  full 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  He  wrought  his  miracles  by 
the  Spirit  of  God.  Blasphemy  against  the  Spirit 
of  God  was  worse  than  against  Jesus,  who  was  also 
man.  Indeed,  the  ministry  of  Christ  was  set  over 
against  that  of  John  the  Baptist  by  the  Baptist 
himself  as  being  one  characterized  by  the  baptism 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  John  the  Baptist  was  full  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  and  yet  he  said  that  the  ministry 
of  Jesus  should  be  so  much  that  of  the  Spirit  that 
his  would  sink  back  into  obscurity  by  contrast. 
As  his  was  marked  by  water  baptism,  Christ's 
would  be  distinguished  by  Spirit  baptism.  Jesus 
would  baptize  some  with  the  Spirit  and  others 
with  fire ;  the  axe  lay  at  the  root  of  the  trees ;  and 
so  the  good  will  stand  while  the  unfruitful  will  be 
hewn  down  and  cast  into  the  fire ;  the  wheat  will 
be  gathered  into  the  garner,  the  chaff  will  be 
burned  with  fire  unquenchable.  Separation  then 
will  mark  the  ministry  of  Jesus.  There  will  be  a 
twofold  baptism,  that  of  the  Spirit  and  that  of 
fire.  Jesus  himself  rejoiced  in  the  Holy  Spirit 
when  the  Seventy  returned  from  their  experimental 
ministry. 

There  is  an  implied  inferiority  in  office  on  the 


THE    HOLY    SPIRIT  99 

part  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  both  to  the  Father  and 
the  Son.  In  person  and  nature  the  Spirit  is  on  a 
par  with  the  Father,  but  the  Father  sends  the 
Holy  Spirit  and  so  does  Jesus.  He  spoke  of  the 
Spirit  "whom  I  will  send  from  the  Father"  (John 
15  :  26).  Once  in  the  upper  room  after  the  resur- 
rection he  breathed  on  them  and  said  :  "  Receive 
ye  the  Holy  Spirit."  This  was  an  earnest  of  what 
was  to  come.  The  Spirit  is  to  be  sent  again  in 
the  name  of  Jesus.  He  is  to  be  another  Com- 
forter, just  as  Jesus  had  been.  Henceforth  the 
new  Comforter  will  take  the  place  of  Jesus  with 
believers.  Moreover,  it  is  best  for  them  that  Jesus 
go  to  the  Father.  Else  the  Spirit  could  not  come 
in  the  new  and  large  sense.  And  this  coming  is 
for  the  good  of  all.  He  will  be  a  true  Comforter, 
Helper,  Paraclete,  Advocate.  It  is  a  hard  word  to 
translate,  for  it  combines  the  idea  of  advocate  and 
consoler.  He  will  teach  us  how  to  plead  our  cause 
with  God,  and  will  himself  plead  God's  cause  with 
us.  The  Greek  advocate  did  both  of  these  things 
with  his  client.  He  pleaded  the  case  and  taught 
the  client  to  plead  his  own  cause.  We  have  two 
Advocates.  Christ  on  high  pleads  our  cause  with 
the  Father,  and  the  Spirit  on  earth  pleads  the 
Father's  cause  with  us.  God  has  made  every 
possible  provision  for  the  salvation  of  the  sinner 
and  the  growth  of  the  Christian. 


lOO       KEYWORDS    IN    THE   TEACHING    OF    JESUS 

The  Holy  Spirit  is  the  teacher  about  Jesus  as 

Jesus  was  the  teacher  of  God.     Thus  we  learn  the 

Father  in   the   Son   by  the   Spirit. 

Our  Jesus  bids  us  come  to  him  and  learn 

Appreheusioii  ^f  q^^     g^  ^j^^  ^   -^  ^^^^^  ^^  ^^^^^ 
01  (Jnrist  IS  by 

the  Spirit  ^^  ^^^  riches  of    Christ.     Jesus  is 

the  picture  of  the  Father,  but  the 
Spirit  explains  the  picture.  "  If  I  go,  I  will  send 
him  unto  you  "(John  i6  :  7).  Yes,  he  continues, 
and  when  he  is  come,  "  he  shall  glorify  me  :  for 
he  shall  take  of  mine  and  shall  declare  it  unto 
you"  (John  16  :  14).  "He  shall  bear  witness  of 
me"  (John  15  :  26).  This  is  the  great  ofifice  of 
the  Spirit.  He  can  help  men  to  see  Christ.  No  man 
has  ever  seen  Christ  who  has  not  seen  him  as  the 
Spirit  is  able  to  reveal  him. 

Pictures  of  Christ  by  great  artists  all  fail  to 
catch  the  real  Christ.  We  hear  much  about  the 
historical  Christ  in  our  day,  and  historical  criti- 
cism has  done  much  for  the  apprehension  of 
Jesus.  The  figure  of  Christ  now  fills  the  world 
as  it  never  did  before.  We  can  get  back  behind 
Calvin  and  Augustine,  and  see  Jesus  as  his  fol- 
lowers and  contemporaries  saw  him.  But  even 
then  we  have  not  seen  Jesus  as  he  was  and 
is.  For  his  contemporaries  crucified  him,  one  of 
his  followers  betrayed  him,  another  denied  him, 
and  all  expected  him  to  set  up  a  temporal  Mes- 


THE    HOLY   SPIRIT  lOI 

sianic  kingdom  in  Jerusalem.  If  we  had  lived  then 
would  we  have  understood  Christ  ?  Now,  as  then, 
mere  historical  information,  however  great,  cannot 
tell  all  that  is  to  be  known  about  Jesus  nor  the 
best  that  there  is  to  know.  Many  a  man  has 
essayed  to  write  a  life  of  Jesus  who  has  never 
sat  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  and  who  has  not  chosen 
the  good  portion  of  spiritual  fellowship.  The 
spiritual  apprehension  of  Christ  as  of  the  truth  in 
Jesus,  is  the  only  adequate  knowledge  of  the 
Saviour.  This  is  to  know  Jesus  and  the  power  of 
his  resurrection.  This  knowledge  of  Jesus  the 
Holy  Spirit  alone  can  give.  As  no  one  can  fully 
reveal  the  Father  save  the  Son,  so  no  one  can  fully 
reveal  Jesus  save  the  Holy  Spirit.  If  we  would 
see  Jesus  now,  we  need  not  merely  the  words  of 
Jesus,  but  the  Spirit  of  Jesus  and  the  Spirit-blessed 
messenger. 

The  Holy  Spirit  will  use  men,  not  angels,  to  tell 
the  story  of  Jesus.  He  impresses  the  heart  di- 
rectly, even  the  heart  of  the  unre- 

generate,  but  none  the  less  and  all  The  Apostolic 
,  ,  ,  ,         .         Teaching 

the   more   the    gospel   preacher   is 

needed  and  used,  a  man  who  has  a  personal  expe- 
rience of  Christ's  love  to  tell.  The  Spirit  is  prom- 
ised to  all  Christians  in  the  apprehension  of  Christ 
and  insight  into  the  truth  of  God.  He  is  the 
Spirit  of  truth,  and  so  is  concerned  with  all  aspects 


102       KEYWORDS    IN    THE   TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

of  truth.  Besides  the  illumination  to  all  Chris- 
tians in  whom  he  abides,  the  Spirit  is  promised  in 
special  manner  to  the  apostles  and  early  followers 
of  Jesus.  He  shall  '*  bring  to  your  remembrance 
all  that  I  said  unto  you"  (John  14  :  26).  How 
much  they  had  forgotten  !  "  He  shall  guide  you 
into  all  the  truth  "  (John  16  :  13),  for  Jesus  had  not 
told  them  all  they  needed  to  know  (John  16  :  12). 
It  was  a  progressive  unfolding  of  the  truth  about 
God.  The  kingdom  kept  coming  more  and  more. 
But  the  Spirit  would  "  teach  you  all  things " 
(John  14  :  26).  They  will  be  qualified  to  teach 
Jesus  by  a  larger  and  richer  knowledge  of  him. 
It  is  fifty  days  in  time  from  the  crucifixion  to  the 
day  of  Pentecost,  but  it  is  fifty  years  in  psycho- 
logical and  spiritual  history.  Peter,  who  had  gone 
into  hiding  after  his  disgraceful  denial  of  Christ, 
becomes  the  outspoken  champion  and  exponent  of 
Christianity.  From  a  cowardly  blasphemer  he  has 
turned  into  a  lion  of  courage.  Then  he  quailed 
before  the  rulers ;  now  they  quail  before  him. 
This  revolution  in  Simon  Peter  calls  for  an  expla- 
nation. The  facts  alone  can  give  it.  Jesus  rose 
from  the  dead ;  Peter  saw  him  ;  the  Holy  Spirit 
has  flooded  his  heart.  This  is  revelation.  This  is 
inspiration.  Here  is  the  first  interpretation  of 
Jesus  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  It 
is  like  that  of  Jesus  himself,  only  it  is  fuller,  for 


THE    HOLY    SPIRIT  IO3 

the  great  facts  of  his  atoning  death,  resurrection, 
and  ascension  could  not  be  fully  interpreted  before 
they  came  to  pass.  First  faith  had  displaced 
doubt.  Then  hope  had  come.  Now  there  is 
knowledge  and  power. 

It  was  not  till  Pentecost  that  even  Peter  appre- 
hended Jesus.  Before  he  died  Jesus  promised  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  would  come  to  bless  and  guide,  to 
be  his  successor.  After  his  resurrection  and  just 
before  his  ascension  he  repeated  that  promise.  He 
could  do  so  with  new  emphasis  and  with  special 
appropriateness.  This  coming  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
was  to  be  an  age-long  dispensation.  The  baptism  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  was  to  mark  the  entrance  upon  the 
new  epoch  of  expansion  in  knowledge  and  growth. 
The  signs  accompanying  it  authenticated  the  ad- 
vent of  the  Spirit.  In  this  sense  the  baptism  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  as  marking  a  new  dispensation  is 
not  to  be  repeated  now.  It  is  like  the  incarnation 
of  Christ.  But  it  is  a  real  baptism  of  the  Spirit 
every  time  we  actually  put  ourselves  at  the  service 
of  God's  Spirit.  It  is  a  missionary  promise  that 
needs  to  be  linked  to  the  Great  Commission.  Jesus 
charged  the  disciples  to  go  into  all  the  world  and 
take  it  for  him.  Now  he  renews  that  command. 
Then  he  had  said  that  he  would  be  with  them  all 
the  days.  Now  he  says  that  the  Holy  Spirit  will 
clothe  them  with   power.     With  this  new  power 


104       KEYWORDS    IN    THE   TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

they  can  and  must  go  unto  all  the  nations,  begin- 
ning from  Jerusalem.  Thus  Judea,  Samaria,  and 
the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth  will  be  reached. 
This  is  the  horizon  that  Jesus  lifts  before  his  now 
rejoicing  disciples  as  he  leaves  them.  Soon  he 
led  them  out  and  ascended  on  high.  The  sublime 
optimism  of  Jesus  in  the  face  of  death  and  de- 
parture from  earth  is  due  to  his  knowledge  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  will  succeed  him  and  carry  on  the 
Christian  enterprise.  He  dared  challenge  the 
kingdom  of  the  world  to  final  struggle,  for  he  knew 
his  power.  He  had  already  overcome  the  world 
and  so  must  the  disciples. 

The  Holy  Spirit,  then,  is  to  take  up  the  struggle 

against  the  kingdom  of  Satan.     Jesus  challenged 

Satan  and  overcame  the  world.    The 

and^the  World  ^^^^  ^^^^^^  ^^  ^^  convict  the  world 
(John  1 6  :  8  f.).  He  is  to  press 
Christ  on  the  hearts  of  men.  Sin,  righteousness, 
and  judgment  are  the  things  about  which  the  Spirit 
will  convict  men,  but  sin  first  and  foremost.  One 
of  the  deadening  effects  of  sin  is  that  men  lose 
consciousness  about  it.  After  sin  comes  right- 
eousness as  the  opposite  and  the  necessary  substi- 
tute for  it.  Without  righteousness  comes  judg- 
ment for  sin.  The  sense  of  sin  and  the  need  of 
righteousness  we  should  press  home  now,  as  never 
before  on  the  minds  of  men.     The  Spirit  alone 


THE    HOLY   SPIRIT  IO5 

can  reach  the  hearts  of  men.  Let  us  use  winged 
words,  use  all  skill  and  wisdom,  and  trust  the  Spirit 
of  God.  Vain  is  our  preaching  without  the  con- 
victing power  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

After  conviction  one  of  two  things  results,  re- 
jection or  submission.  The  Holy  Spirit  presses 
on  a  man  his  destiny.  It  is  the  sublimest  of  con- 
flicts when  the  Spirit  of  God  strives  with  the  spirit 
of  man.  The  two  sovereign  wills  collide.  See  the 
struggle  in  a  child's  will.  No  wonder  the  angels 
watch  and  rejoice  when  man  surrenders  to  God 
and  finds  his  own  best  self  in  God.  God  respects 
the  human  will.  Jesus  called  this  experience  the 
new  birth.  It  is  a  birth  by  the  Spirit  of  God  in 
the  spiritual  nature  of  man.  A  new  heart  comes 
to  him  and  a  new  life  begins.  This  is  the  supreme 
mystery  in  the  Christian  life.  We  cannot  explain 
how  the  Spirit  of  God  lays  hold  of  the  spirit  of 
man,  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  and  injects  new 
life  into  him.  It  is  the  Spirit  that  quickens.  Herein 
is  the  marriage  between  divine  sovereignty  and 
human  free  agency.  We  know  that  God  is  su- 
preme and  that  we  are  responsible.  The  absolute 
power  of  God  does  not  absolve  us  from  our  respon- 
sibility. We  know  this  and  must  be  content  to 
know  no  more.  Jesus  himself  found  his  chief  joy 
in  doing  the  will  of  the  Father.  That  is  the 
highest  virtue. 


I06      KEYWORDS    IN    THE  TEACHING   OF   JESUS 

The  Holy  Spirit  shall  dwell  in  us.     With  the 

new  birth  the  Holy  Spirit  takes  up  his  abode  in 

our  souls ;  our  bodies  are  his  tem- 

The  Spirit  and     j^      j^ink  of  that.     He  carries  on 

the  Cnnstiaai      ,  ,    ,      ,     , 

the  work  that  he  began  in  us.  We  are 

to  be  sanctified  in  the  realm  of  the  truth,  but  the 
work  is  done  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  Jesus  did  not 
expand  this  phase  of  the  Spirit's  work,  as  we  have 
it  discussed  later  in  Galatians  and  Romans.  But 
the  abiding  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  made 
clear.  The  indwelling  power  of  the  Spirit  is  dwelt 
on  also.  Jesus  even  said  that  the  Father  and  he 
would  make  their  abode  in  the  hearts  of  believers 
(John  14  :  23).  Wonder  of  wonders  is  this.  This 
blessed  indwelling  is  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Thus  Jesus  will  be  with  his  people  through  all  the 
ages.  So  also  the  disciple  grows  into  constant 
and  increasing  likeness  to  his  Master.  If  the 
Spirit  of  Christ  is  in  us,  we  are  his  now  and  shall 
be  with  him  always.  The  Spirit  will  make  us  holy 
in  the  end.  Sanctification  is  a  process,  not  a 
single  act.  We  should  seek  to  be  holy.  Actually 
some  people  think  it  a  bad  thing  to  be  holy.  This 
is  due  to  a  reaction  against  a  professional  holiness 
which  does  not  command  confidence. 

We  do  not  need  to  pray  for  the  coming  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  The  promise  of  the  Father  was  ful- 
filled at  Pentecost.     The  Holy  Spirit  is  here  and 


THE    HOLY    SPIRIT  lO/ 

this  is  his  dispensation.  We  need  to  put  ourselves 
at  the  service  of  the  Spirit,  so  as  to  be  used  by 
him.  It  is  the  age  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  He,  not 
the  pope,  is  the  Vicegerent  of  Christ.  He  is  will- 
ing and  anxious  to  bless  us  and  to  use  us.  And 
he  will  if  we  are  not  full  of  ourselves,  if  we  are 
willing  to  be  filled  with  the  power  of  the  living 
God.  We  must  make  room  for  the  Spirit  of  God. 
We  should  live  so  that  the  Spirit  will  love  and 
dwell  in  us.  Jesus  will  come  again.  Till  he  come 
the  Spirit  is  here  to  lead  men  to  Christ  and  thus  to 
the  Father.  Are  we  at  the  service  of  the  Spirit  ? 
He  alone  is  power,  for  he  is  God.  He  uses 
many  conductors  for  the  conveyance  of  power,  and 
some  very  weak  ones.  Can  a  soul 
be  saved  as  the  result  of  the  preach-  ^^®  Spirit 
ing  of  a  bad  man?  What  about  ohrfsSnity'' 
Judas  .''  We  are  not  responsible  for 
our  spiritual  ancestors.  We  do  not  trust  the 
preacher,  but  Christ.  The  wires  that  run  over- 
head are  not  the  power  that  moves  the  cars.  The 
cars  do  not  move  themselves.  The  electricity  is 
the  power.  We  must  not  mistake  machinery  for 
power,  nor  creed  for  life.  Modern  Christianity  is 
highly  organized  and  properly  so.  The  manifold 
life  of  to-day  calls  for  varied  effort.  But  there  is 
only  one  power  for  all  the  wheels,  for  all  the  en- 
gines, for  all  the  weapons  in  the  army  of  Christ. 


I08       KEYWORDS    IN    THE   TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

It  is  the  Spirit  of  God.  If  we  look  to  aught  else 
the  wheels  will  run  off,  the  engines  will  be  power- 
less. To  change  the  figure  we  shall  use  blank 
cartridges.  We  shall  then  have  pop-gun  sermons 
instead  of  torpedoes.  On  what  do  we  depend  for 
success  ?  No  real  progress  is  possible  in  Christian 
work  that  does  not  help  on  the  kingdom  of  God. 
Vain  our  statistics,  our  conventions,  our  schools, 
our  papers,  our  books,  our  gifts,  our  numbers,  our 
gatherings,  our  emotions  unless  God  be  with  us, 
God  the  Holy  Spirit.  If  we  follow  his  lead  and 
feel  the  beat  of  his  heart  we  shall  take  the  world 
for  Christ  and  do  it  speedily.  Lord  Jesus,  breathe 
on  us  thy  Spirit  and  fill  us  with  the  fulness  of  God. 
Dwell  in  us  and  help  us  walk  with  thee. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE    FUTURE    LIFE 

'  •  I  come  again,  and  receive  you  unto  myself,  that  where 
I  am  there  ye  may  be  also"  (John  14  :  3), 

Jesus  has  more  to  say  about  the  life  that  now  is 
than  about  the  Hfe  to  come,  but  not  because  the 
present  life  is  more  important.  Far  otherwise. 
With  Jesus  the  chief  emphasis  is  ever  on  the  fu- 
ture state.  Present  duties  are  brightened  by  future 
hopes.  Present  woes  are  darkened  by  a  greater 
cloud.  The  satisfaction  of  the  world  without  God 
is  the  pity  of  it  all. 

The  world  is  always  longing  for  a  voice  from 

the  other  world  to  tell  the  truth  about  it.     Men 

slip  up  back-stairs  to  attics  to  hear 

what  so-called  spiritualists  have  to    A  Voice  from 

-cr  ,     ,        ,    T  1  .    .  Heaven 

say.     Yes,  and  they  believe  this  is 

scientific,  while  Christianity  is  superstition !     It  is 

easy  to   deceive  people.     They  will   not  believe 

Moses  and  the  prophets  nor  the  voice  from  the 

dead  (Luke  16  :  31).     Jesus  is  the  real  voice  from 

the  other  world.     He  came  from  heaven,  where 

he  had  been  before  his  incarnation.     Repeatedly 

109 


no       KEYWORDS    IN    THE   TEACHING    OF    JESUS 

Christ  speaks  of  his  having  come  from  God,  of  the 
glory  that  he  had  with  the  Father  before  the 
foundation  of  the  world.  He  has  come  by  the 
humble  route  of  human  birth,  but  none  the  less 
he  existed  before  his  birth.  He  is  the  Word  of 
God,  the  Living  Epistle,  addressed  to  men.  Will 
they  read  him  now  .-•  Some  rejected  Christ  then 
and  some  reject  him  now,  as  the  Spirit  presses 
him  home  on  men's  hearts.  He  is,  therefore, 
qualified  to  speak  of  God  and  the  future  life.  He 
may  have  drawn  a  veil  down  between  his  earthly 
life  and  the  life  in  heaven.  We  do  not  know  how 
vivid  his  consciousness  was  on  that  point,  but  we 
do  know  that  he  had  this  consciousness.  More- 
over, Jesus  came  back  to  earth  from  the  grave. 
He  had  all  that  any  man  could  get  who  has  been 
to  the  other  world,  and  more.  Jesus  came  back 
not  as  mere  spirit,  but  as  himself,  soul,  and  body, 
and  as  God's  own  Son,  who  rightly  apprehended 
the  value  of  this  life  and  the  life  to  be. 

Christ  is  so  clear  on  this  point  that  no  expos- 
itory remarks  are  necessary.     It  is  worth  while, 
however,   to  insist  on  the  fact,  for 

Keahty  of  the   :^^^^  ^xeve  is  the  essence  of  Christi- 
Future  Life  .  ^.    ,         .  ,.^    , 

anity.     If  there  is  no  life  hereafter, 

not    only  is  Jesus    grievously  deceived,  but    the 

hopes  of  men  come  to  naught.     All  men,  save  a 

few  materialistic  philosophers,  have  looked  for  a 


THE    FUTURE    LIFE  III 

life  beyond  the  grave.  If  this  is  only  a  mirage  it 
is  more  than  a  mockery.  It  is  true  that  the  hope 
of  future  life  is  a  comforting  and  ennobling  one, 
even  if  untrue.  But  the  dignity  and  the  serious- 
ness of  religion  vanish  if  death  ends  all.  In  fact, 
Paul  said  that  we  are  of  all  men  most  miserable. 
The  character,  work,  and  words  of  Jesus  all 
guarantee  the  reality  of  the  future  life.  Else  he 
is  either  ignorant  and  a  mere  deluded  man,  or  a 
hypocrite  of  the  worst  kind.  The  constant  as- 
sumption in  all  the  words  of  Jesus  is  that  he  was 
able  to  tell  the  truth  about  the  spiritual  life. 

There  is  no  Nirvana  in  the  teaching  of  Christ. 
The  rather  the  conscience  is  described  as  being 
keenly  alive  in  the  other  world  and 
memory  is  all  ablaze.     It  would  be     The  Puture 
a  comfort  to   many  men   if   death     Everlasting 
could  end  all.     It  is  in  this  delusive 
hope    that    so    many   commit    suicide.      But    the 
spiritual  life  is  not  deadened  by  death.     The  soul 
is  released  from  the  body  and  there  is  a  fuller  joy 
or  a  keener  woe.     There  is  no  hope  of  an  inter- 
mediate state.     Lazarus  is  in  Abraham's  bosom, 
and  the  rich  man  is  in  torment  and  a  great  gulf  is 
fixed  between  them.     This  is  the  final,  not  the  in- 
termediate state.    There  is  no  complete  nor  partial 
cessation    of   consciousness,  but  everlasting  con- 
sciousness in  a  highly  developed  state.     Even  in 


112       KEYWORDS    IN    THE   TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

eternal  death  it  is  rather  eternal  dying  in  the  sense 
of  spiritual  agony,  not  of  unconsciousness.  Christ 
holds  out  no  hope  of  annihilation  of  the  soul  nor 
of  soul  sleeping.  Nor  does  he  predicate  future 
existence  only  of  the  redeemed.  Both  the  saved  and 
the  unsaved  have  immortal  spirits,  which  shall  live 
on  forever. 

The  man  who  thinks  that  this  life  is  the  real 

life  and  seeks  it,  loses  his  true  life.     The  way  to 

find    true  life   is  to  lose  one's    life 

The  Eeal  Life   -^^  q^^      Life  consists  not   in  the 

IS  Ahead 

abundance   of   things    that   a   man 

possesses  and  is  more  than  meat.  The  soul  is  the 
man's  life,  and  this  is  worth  more  than  all  the 
world,  not  to  mention  the  little  part  of  it  that  we 
can  get  for  a  few  years.  Hence  the  satisfaction 
of  present  needs,  while  necessary,  should  not  be  at 
the  expense  of,  not  to  say  the  exclusion  of,  the 
spiritual  life.  The  soul  has  need  of  the  body  but 
the  body  is  only  the  home  of  the  soul.  The  soul 
can  live  without  it  and  will  do  so  for  a  while.  The 
ultimate  state  of  the  soul  is  to  dwell  in  a  glorified 
body,  not  this  temple  of  clay.  Wonderful  as  is 
the  human  body  it  is  a  prison  to  the  soul.  Its 
powers  are  circumscribed  and  many  clogs  hinder 
the  spiritual  life.  However,  the  body  in  itself  is 
not  "sinful,  though  sin  dwells  in  the  flesh  as  in  the 
soul.     The  essence  of  sin  is  in  the  soul.     But  the 


THE    FUTURE    LIFE  I  I  3 

body  will  be  raised  from  the  tomb,  Jesus  said. 
What  this  body  would  be  he  did  not  say.  Paul 
calls  it  a  spiritual  body  that  had  some  connection 
with  the  natural  body.  There  will  be  the  resur- 
rection both  of  the  just  and  of  the  unjust,  to  life 
and  to  death  (John  5  :  29).  The  mystery  of  the 
bodily  resurrection  is  after  all  no  greater  than  the 
mystery  of  life  itself.  The  resurrection  of  Jesus  is 
not  specially  analogous  to  our  resurrection,  though 
a  guarantee  of  it.  But  the  spiritual  man  is  to  rule 
the  bodily  man  and  not  to  feed  itself  on  "  much 
goods  laid  up  for  many  years."  That  is  to  be  a 
fool.  The  pity  of  it  is  to  see  so  many  starved 
souls  around  us  feeding  on  the  husks  that  the 
swine  eat.  It  was  this  that  evoked  the  pity  of 
Jesus.  The  swine  care  not  for  pearls.  But  some 
men  find  joy  in  the  hidden  treasure,  the  pearl  of 
great  price.  In  some  there  is  a  well  of  water 
springing  up  into  everlasting  life. 

Christ  conceives  of  the  future  state  as  deter- 
mined by  this  life.     The  time  of  probation  is  here, 
not  hereafter.     To  this   end  Jesus 
exhorted  men  to  believe  in  him.    To  The 

this  end  he  promises  eternal  life —     r*^  ^J.^.   ^  j 
^  Uonditioned 

indeed,  here  already  we  have  eternal     by  this  Life 
life.     Future  probation  receives  no 
sanction  in  the  words  of  Jesus.      He  expressly  de- 
nies  it  when  Abraham  reminds  the  wicked  rich 

H 


114       KEYWORDS    IN    THE   TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

man  that  he  had  already  had  his  opportunity  in 
yonder  world.  It  is  more  just  that  it  is  so  and 
also  more  merciful.  It  is  true  that  we  are  born 
with  sinful  natures  and  live  in  a  sinful  world,  and 
multitudes  have  no  knowledge  of  Christ,  and  are 
without  God  and  without  hope  in  the  world.  But 
even  the  darkest  phase  of  heathenism  has  more 
opportunity  than  one  could  reasonably  look  for  in 
the  future  life,  even  if  such  opportunity  were  given. 

Here  our  hearts  are  undeveloped  and  in  the 
formative  state ;  there  is  more  possibility  of  being 
reached  here  by  a  little  light  than  in  the  future 
life  in  larger  and  fuller  light.  Character  is  slow  in 
formation  but  permanent  in  result.  It  is  character 
that  fixes  destiny.  When  the  character  is  stamped 
in  hard  lines  the  powers  of  resistance  to  spiritual 
light  are  indefinitely  increased.  The  demons  be- 
lieve and  tremble.  They  know  enough  to  save 
even  demons  if  mere  knowledge  could  do  that. 

No  such  word  fell  from  the  lips  of  Jesus.  He 
did  say  that  there  would  be  degrees  of  punish- 
ment, few  stripes  and  many  stripes. 

Puture        j}^e  punishment  will  be  tempered 
Punishment  is  ,.       ^     ^i     r    ^       r  ^l       i. 

not  Corrective  accordmg  to  the  facts  of  the  char- 
acter. But  our  Lord  did  not  share  the 
sentimental  weakness  that  shrank  from  the  pun- 
ishment of  sin.     He  knew  how  holy  God  is  and  how 
heinous  sin  is.     He  used  the  word  "  damnation  " 


THE    FUTURE    LIFE  II5 

and  "damnation  of  hell"  (Matt.  23  :  33).  He 
spoke  of  everlasting  punishment,  and  used  the 
same  word  for  "everlasting"  that  he  used  when 
he  spoke  of  everlasting  life  (Matt.  25  :  46).  We 
need  not  be  more  merciful  in  our  theology  than 
Jesus  is.  He  so  loved  the  world  that  he  died  for 
it.  There  can  be  no  greater  love  than  this.  It  is 
gratuitous  for  us  to  assume  that  we  apprehend 
spiritual  realities  better  than  Jesus.  And  yet  he 
calmly  said  to  the  Pharisees  that  they  would  die 
in  their  sins  unless  they  believed  in  him.  We 
must  remember  that  it  cost  the  blood  of  God's 
Son  to  make  possible  the  salvation  of  any.  We 
must  remember  also  that  men  are  free  agents  and 
have  a  right  to  reject  life.  The  destiny  goes  with 
the  choice. 

The  problem  of  the  heathen  is  serious.  But 
Jesus  has  some  sheep  among  them.  The  infants 
who  die  before  the  age  of  responsibility  are 
surely  saved.  The  heathen  who  come  to  age  and 
die  are  not  condemned  because  they  have  not 
heard  of  Jesus,  but  because  they  do  not  live 
up  to  the  light  which  they  have.  They  have  na- 
ture and  they  have  conscience.  The  heathen  do 
not  do  what  they  know,  nor  did  the  Jew,  nor  do 
we.  There  is  no  hope  in  any  of  us  save  in  Christ. 
But  in  salvation  through  Christ  the  justice  of 
God  is  to  be  maintained  and  the  free  will  of  man 


Il6      KEYWORDS    IN    THE   TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

respected.  This  problem  is  too  high  and  too  deep 
for  us,  but  at  least  we  are  not  permitted  in  the  light 
of  it  to  rail  against  God  because  he  punishes  those 
who  are  guilty  of  sin  with  a  punishment  adequate 
to  the  sin.  God  has  ordained  a  moral  universe 
and  righteousness  is  at  the  base  of  it.  It  would 
be  pleasant  to  cling  to  what  is  called  "  eternal 
hope,"  and  long  for  and  believe  in  the  ultimate 
redemption  of  all  men.  But  there  is  no  Scripture 
nor  moral  basis  for  it.  The  arguments  that  over- 
turn eternal  punishment  overturn  eternal  life.  We 
must  remember  that  we  do  not  understand  how 
dreadful  sin  is  nor  how  holy  God  is.  We  can  trust 
the  God  of  all  the  earth  to  do  right. 

It  is  inevitable  that  judgment  meet  us  if  sin  is 
to  be  punished.     The  personal  condemnation  to 

hell  or  the  welcome  to  heaven  comes 
The  Judgment  at  death.     There  is  thus  individual 

judgment  for  every  one.  And  yet 
the  Master  teaches  more  than  this.  He  pictures 
a  general  judgment  day,  which  would  be  only  con- 
firmatory of  what  is  already  true,  to  be  sure,  but 
which  would  seal  publicly  and  finally  the  states  of 
all.  The  sheep  will  be  on  the  right  and  the  goats 
on  the  left  (Matt.  25  :  33).  So  the  shepherds  of 
Palestine,  crook  in  hand,  now  separate  their  flocks 
at  eventide.  The  curse  will  be :  "  Depart  from 
me,"  and  will  be  pronounced  by  the  Son  of  Man 


THE    FUTURE    LIFE  11/ 

who  came  on  earth  to  save  men.  He  himself  wifl 
then  be  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth.  He  as  King 
of  the  kingdom  will  open  and  shut  the  door  of 
hope  for  good  and  all;  To  the  sheep  he  will  say, 
"  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father."  The  kingdom 
was  prepared  for  you  before  the  foundation  of  the 
world.  Now  enter  it  finally  and  fully.  It  is  the 
most  august  of  all  the  scenes  in  the  words  of 
Jesus,  this  judgment  scene  in  Matt.  25,  when  all 
the  peoples  of  the  earth  shall  be  gathered  before 
him.  There  will  be  many  surprises  then  or  at 
death.  But  the  Judge  and  King  will  pronounce 
the  solemn  sentence.  By  their  fruits  the  trees  will 
be  judged  and  the  judgment  will  be  final.  "And 
these  shall  go  away  into  eternal  punishment :  but 
the  righteous  into  eternal  life"  (Matt.  25  :  46). 

Does  Jesus  teach  hell  ?  Has  the  Revised  ver- 
sion done  away  with  hell  ?  Now  the  English  word 
hell   originally   meant    the    hidden 

place,  from  helan,  to  hide  or  conceal.     „    .  /tt  ^^ 
L,      U      1  ,  ,     ,  Fact  of  Hell 

The  Greek  word  hades  meant  pre- 
cisely this  idea.  It  was  the  unseen  world,  not  the 
evil  world.  To  be  sure,  in  the  unseen  world  are  both 
heaven  and  hell.  So  the  rich  man  is  in  hades  in 
torment.  So  hades  was  sometimes  used  of  the  place 
of  torment  as  the  English  word  hell  is  now  always. 
The  Revised  version  has  done  a  service  in  trans- 
literating hades  and  confining  the  term  hell  to  the 


Il8       KEYWORDS    IN    THE    TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

translation  of  gehenna.  But  the  revisers  have  not 
taken  hell  out  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus.  It  is  im- 
possible to  take  it  out.  The  idea  is  put  in  figura- 
tive form,  it  is  true,  but  the  figures  fall  short  of 
the  reality,  as  is  true  in  the  case  of  heaven.  Jesus 
has  not  said  that  hell  is  literal  fire,  though  he  calls 
it  the  hell  of  fire  and  unquenchable  fire.  He  also 
calls  it  the  place  of  outer  darkness,  the  place  where 
the  worm  dieth  not.  But  the  fact  of  hell  is  not 
dependent  on  the  literalness  of  these  awful  figures, 
for  eternal  punishment  is  hell.  The  eternal  wrath 
of  God  is  hell.  The  lashing  of  the  conscience  is 
hell.  Jesus  means  that  hell  is  the  abode  of  lost 
spirits.  But  the  fact  of  hell  is  not  conditioned  by 
its  being  a  place,  though  this  is  possibly  true. 
Every  man  makes  his  own  hell  and  makes  it  here. 
Hell  begins  on  earth  and  is  continued  hereafter. 
We  need  new  emphasis  on  the  fact  of  hell,  but  let 
it  be  scriptural  emphasis,  not  mere  theological 
emphasis.  We  must  always  distinguish  between  a 
fact  and  our  theory  of  the  fact. 

"Because  I  live,  ye  shall  live  also  "  (John  14:19). 

He  is  life  and  is  able  to  give    life,    for   he   has 

life  in  himself  (John  5  :  26).    This  is 

The  Ground  of  ^^^  ground  of  hope.     The  spiritual 
Eternal  Life  ^     .    .         ^  /        .      ,  .    . 

appropriation  of  Jesus  is  the  assimi- 
lation of  spiritual  life.  This  is  to  "  eat  "  his  flesh 
and    to    drink    his    blood,    indeed    to  "eat"    him 


THE    FUTURE    LIFE  I  I9 

(John  6  :  57).     Here,  then,  the   Christian   is  on 

high  and  sure,  if  mystical,  ground.     The  branches 

are  united  to  the  vine.     No  one  can  snatch  the 

elect  out  of  the  hand  of  the  Redeemer.     This  is 

the  true  "  eternal  hope"  and  the  only  one.     This 

is  the  way  to  have  life  in  ourselves.     Jesus  has  life 

in  himself  and  can  give  us  eternal  life.    The  words 

of  Jesus  are  spirit  and  life  only  because   he  is 

spirit  and  life.     Jesus  offers  himself  in  the  last 

analysis  as  the  ground  of  eternal  hope.    Life  comes 

from  life,  eternal  life  from  eternal  life. 

Jesus  gives  us   not   many  pictures  of   heaven, 

though  he  often  alludes  to  heaven,  as  when  he  says 

"our  Father  in  heaven,"  "the  angels 

of  God  in  heaven,"  "joy  in  heaven,"  °^"/^«  ^'''^'''^ 

•     ,  ,/  ^,        ,  of  Heaven 

"treasures  in  heaven.      The  phrase 

"kingdom  of  heaven"  is  very  common  in  Matthew 
and  is  equal  in  effect  to  the  kingdom  of  God. 
God  is  in  heaven  and  heaven  is  where  God  is  in 
his  fulness  and  power.  Jesus  himself  comes  from 
heaven  and  is  going  back  to  heaven.  He  likewise 
uses  Abraham's  bosom  as  a  terra  for  future  happi- 
ness. So  also  paradise  is  a  term  for  heaven.  The 
word  heaven  is  used  in  two  senses,  the  regions 
above  us  and  then  the  abode  of  the  redeemed. 

But  it  is  in  John  fourteen  that  our  Lord  has 
most  to  say  on  the  subject  of  heaven.  Here  he 
calls  it  his  Father's  house.    It  is  a  figure  surely,  but 


120       KEYWORDS    IN    THE    TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

a  beautiful  one.  Our  Father  has  a  great  home  with 
many  mansions,  and  there  is  room  for  all  the  chil- 
dren. The  eldest  Son  has  gone  back  home  and 
he  will  make  ready  a  place  for  all  the  absent  loved 
ones.  As  they  come  home  he  will  welcome  them 
and  assures  them  beforehand  that  a  room  will  be 
ready.  He  wishes  them  all  to  be  with  him  for- 
ever in  the  Father's  house.  There  is  going  to  be 
a  family  reunion  on  high.  All  the  absent  ones 
will  come  back.  The  vacant  chairs  will  be  occu- 
pied. The  vacant  seats  at  the  table  will  be  no 
longer  empty.  Moreover,  Jesus  will  come  himself 
and  show  us  the  way  to  the  home  on  high.  He 
will  take  us  by  the  hand  at  the  gate  of  death  and 
lead  us  over  the  river  and  up  the  hill  and  into  our 
new  home.  That  will  be  heaven,  to  be  with 
Jesus  forever,  to  see  him  as  he  is.  He  will  then 
show  us  the  Father  in  a  new  way.  We  shall  be 
ready  to  endure  the  majesty  and  glory  of  the  sur- 
roundings. All  sin  will  be  purged  from  our 
hearts.  We  shall  be  pure,  and  only  the  pure  will 
be  there.  He  will  introduce  us  to  the  saints  of 
old,  to  Abraham,  to  Moses,  to  Elijah,  to  David,  to 
Isaiah,  to  John  the  Baptist,  to  John  the  beloved 
disciple,  to  Simon  Peter,  to  Paul,  to  Augustine,  to 
Chrysostom,  to  Calvin,  to  Knox,  to  Spurgeon,  to 
Boyce,  to  Broadus.  Then  the  kingdom  will  have 
come  indeed.     But  if  this  is  to  be  true  the  king- 


THE    FUTURE    LIFE  121 

dom  must  begin  with  us  here  on  earth.  Heaven 
must  first  enter  us  if  we  are  to  enter  it.  Jesus  said 
that,  if  he  went,  he  would  come  again  and  take  us 
to  be  with  him.     "Amen  :  come,  Lord  Jesus." 

These  seven  "  words  "  of  Jesus  are  not  all  that 
he  spoke  to  men.  They  are,  however,  most  im- 
portant for  the  comprehension  of  the  theology  of 
our  Lord.  If  we  rightly  understand  the  great 
Teacher's  message  concerning  the  Father,  the  Son, 
Sin,  the  Kingdom  of  God,  Righteousness,  the  Holy 
Spirit,  the  Future  Life,  we  shall  be  able  easily  to 
construct  an  orderly  and  a  correct  outline  of  the  re- 
maining doctrines.  The  logic  of  the  life  and  teach- 
ings of  Jesus  is  summed  up  in  his  own  memorable 
words  :  '•  All  things  have  been  delivered  unto  me 
of  my  Father  :  .  .  and  no  one  knoweth  the  Son,  save 
the  Father ;  neither  doth  any  know  the  Father, 
save  the  Son,  and  he  to  whomsoever  the  Son 
willeth  to  reveal  him.  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that 
labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you 
rest.  Take  my  yoke  upon  you,  and  learn  of  me ; 
for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart :  and  ye  shall 
find  rest  unto  your  souls.  For  my  yoke  is  easy, 
and  my  burden  is  light "  (Matt.  1 1  :  27-30). 


INDEX  OF  SCRIPTURE 
REFERENCES 


PAGE 

2  Samuel  7  :  13, 16 58 

Psalm  51  :  11 94 

Psalm89 58,  73 

Psalm  89 :  4,  5,  38, 48 59 

Joel  2  :  28 94 

Isaiah  61 : 1 94 

Jeremiah  8  :  22 51 

Daniel  7  :  14,  18 69 

Daniel  7:27 59,73 

Mark  1 :  15 56 

Mark  4 :  11 67 

Mark  4 :  12 46 

Mark  9 : 1 65,  70 

Mark  10: 14 68 

Mark  12 :  29 22 

Mark  12  :34 63,  69 

Mark  13 :  32 38 

Mark  14  :  62 30,  33 

Mark  15 :  43 63 

Matthew  1 :  21 42 

Matthew  3 :  2 66,  61,  70 

Matthew  3  :  9 17,  67 

Matthew 3. 15 32,86 

Matthew4:3 13 

Matthew  4:  9 74 

Matthew  4: 17 56 

Matthew  5  :  3-16 79 

122 


PAGE 

Matthew  5 : 6 79 

Matthew  5  :  17-20 79 

Matthew5  :  19 65 

Matthew  5 :  20 36,  69,  79 

Matthew  6 :  21  to  7 :  12 80 

Matthew  5: 43 35 

Matthew  6 : 1 78,  83 

Matthew  6 : 9 14 

Matthew  6 :  10 36, 77 

Matthew  6 :  13 47 

Matthew  6 :  22  f 47 

Matthew  6 :  33 66,  80 

Matthew  7 :  13-29 80 

Matthew  7: 21 68,  90 

Matthew  7 :  23 21 

Matthew  8  :  11 76 

Matthew9:4 47 

Matthew  9 : 6 29 

Matthew  9 :  12 34 

Matthew  9 :  13 42,  85 

Matthew  10:  7 57 

Matthew  10 :  28 50 

Matthew  11 :  12 68 

Matthew  11: 19 41 

Matthew  11 :  27 14 

Matthew  11 :  27-40 122 

Matthew  11: 28 21,35,54,55 

Matthew  11 :  29 25 

Matthew  12: 12 49 

Matthew  12 :  25 59  f 

Matthew  12 :  28 62 

Matthew  12  :  34 16,  45 

Matthew  13  :  43 76 

Matthew  13: 52 68 


INDEX    OF    SCRIPTURE    REFERENCES 


123 


PAGE 

Matthew  16 :  18 59, 73 

Matthew  16 :  19 64 

Matthew  16: 26 50 

Matthew  16: 28 75 

Matthew  17 : 5 12 

Matthew  18 : 1, 4 65 

Matthew  19 :  26 22,  69 

Matthew  20  :  21 65 

Matthew  20 :  28 20, 34, 39,  41 

Matthew  21 :  31 69 

Matthew  21 :  43 73 

Matthew  22 :  29 17 

Matthew  22: 40 48 

Matthew  23  :  14 66 

Matthew  23 :  33 115 

Matthew  25: 33 116 

Matthew25:34 73,  75 

Matthew  25  :  46 115, 117 

Matthew  26: 28 38  f.,  52 

Matthew  26  :  39 32, 49 

Matthew  26 :  63  f 27 

Matthew  27:  46 32,  49 

Matthew  28  :  18 29 

Matthew  28: 20 75 

Lukel:6 78 

Luke  2:49 13 

Luke  2  :  50 32 

Luke  2 :  51 31 

Luke  2 :  52 32 

Luke  3 :  22 13 

Luke  4 :  18 „ 34 

Luke  6 :  20-26 79 

Luke  6  :  31 80 

Luke  6 :  36-42 SO 

Luke  6: 43-49 80 

Luke  9:25 50 

Luke  9  :  41 46 

Luke  9 :  58 32 

Luke  9:  60 50 

Luke  10  :  22 17 

Luke  11 :  31  f 26 

Luke  11 :  37-54 82 

Luke  12:32 64 


Luke  13 
Luke  13 
Luke  13 
Luke  15 
Luke  15 
Luke  15 
Luke  15 
Luke  15 
Luke  15 
Luke  15 
Luke  16 
Luke  16 
Luke  17 
Luke  18 
Luke  18 
Luke  19 
Luke  19 
Luke  22 
Luke  22 
Luke  22 
Luke  22 
Luke  22 
Luke  23 


5 

23f.. 
28.... 

1 

7 

32..., 
18... 
20... 
21.... 
32... 
16.... 
31... 
20  f., 

9 

13... 
10... 
18... 


PAGE 

....  50 

....  76 

...  70 

...  43 

...  20 

...  20 

...  15 

...  19 

...  53 

...  19 

...  62 

...  109 

...  64 

...  82 

...  44 

...  34 

...  22 


16,  18 70 


John  1 : 1 27,  28 

John  1 :  18 23, 28 

John  1:29 20,  42 

John  1:51 30 

John  2:  4 31 

John  2:16 13 

John  3:3 15,  53,  57 

John  3 : 5 57 

John  3 :  14 20 

John  3  :  16 19,  34 

John  4 :  13  f 34 

John  4 :  24 22 

John  4  :  26 33 

John  4 :  34 30,  34 

John  5 :  17 14,  23 

John  5  :  20 27 

John  5  :  21 29 

John  5  :  22 21 

John  5  :  23 18 

John  5  :  25 27 


124 


INDEX   OF   SCRIPTURE   REFERENCES 


PAGE 

John  5: 26 28,118 

John  5  :  29 113 

John  5:39 16 

John  5:  40 40 

John  6 :  15 63 

John  6:  37 21,  119 

John  6 :  38  f 33 

John  6:44 21 

John  6: 46 17,23 

John  6 :  55-58 34 

John  6:  57 22,  33 

John  6 :  63 12 

John  6 :  68  f 40 

John  7: 17 90 

John  7  :  21 90 

John  7 :  29 28 

John  7:37 35 

John  8: 12 26,  29,  34 

John  8 :  23 29 

John  8:  24 44 

John  8  :  34 44 

John  8: 36 44,  54 

John  8:39 17 

John  8:42 28 

John  8: 44 15,  45 

John  8: 46 43 

John  8:58 26,  27,  29 

John  9 :  35 27 

John  9 :  41 44 

John  10 : 1-18 34 

John  10 :  10 54 

John  10 :  17 52 

John  10:30 14,  28 

John  11 :  25 28,  29 

John  11 :  26 ~ 64 

John  12 :  21 54 

John  12  :  24  f 39,  52 

John  12: 27 52 

John  12:32 39,  52,  54 

John  12 :  45 19 

John  12  :  46 34 

John  12:49 33 


PAGE 

John  14  : 1 54 

John  14 : 3 109 

John  14:6 18,  37 

John  14  :  7 24 

John  14 : 8 17 

John  14:9 11, 18 

John  14 :  11 19 

John  14  :  19 118 

John  14:23 23,  106 

John  14:26 102 

John  15: 22 43 

John  15  :  26 99, 100 

John  16  :7 100 

John  16 : 8 43, 104 

John  16  :  12 102 

John  16  :  13 102 

John  16:14 93,  102 

John  16: 15 108 

John  16 :  28 26 

John  17  : 3 24 

John  17  : 4 18 

John  17  :5 22,  26 

John  17:24 26 

John  17 :  25  f 18,  2S 

John  18 :  37 33 

John  19 :  26 31 

John  19  :  30 52 

John  21 :  17 37 

Acts  1 : 6 67 

2  Corinthians  8 : 9 32 

Romans  3-5 79 

Romans  6-8 79 

Romans  12 : 3 25 

1  Peter 2: 5 74 

Hebrews  12 : 9 15 

Revelation  11 :  15 75 


TOPICAL   INDEX 


Abraham,  16, 17,  26,  29,  70,  111,  120. 
Adam,  4-1. 

Atonement,  38  f.,  52. 
Augustine,  100, 120. 

Baptist,  John  the,  17,  20,  33,  42,  48, 

56,  61,  79,  86,  120. 
Boyce,  120. 
Broad  us,  120. 
Buddha,  11. 

Calvin,  100, 120. 
Cana,  31. 

Character,  78,  80  f. 
Christian  Science,  42. 
Chrysostom,  120. 
Confucius,  11. 
Creed,  90. 
Cross,  39  f. 

Daniel,  31. 

David,  58,  73,  94,  120. 

Dedication,  feast  of,  14. 

Elijah,  120. 
Elizabeth,  78. 
Epictetus,  11. 
Eve,  44. 
Evolution,  44. 

Future  -life :  mentioned,  109  f. ;  a 
voice  from  heaven  about,  109 ; 
reality  of,  110;  everlasting.  111; 
the  real  life  ahead,  112;  condi- 
tioned by  this  life,  114  ;  the  judg- 
ment in,  116 ;  the  fact  of  hell  in, 
117;    essentially   eternal,    118; 


Christ's  picture  of    heaven   in 
connection  with,  119. 

Gay  lectures,  47. 

Gerizim,  22. 

Gethsemane,  49. 

God  the  Father:  revealed,  11  f. ; 
the  Father  of  Jesus,  14 ;  Father 
of  all  believers,  14;  Father  in 
one  sense  of  all  men,  15;  Old 
Testament  view  of,  16 ;  new  light 
on,  from  Jesus,  17 ;  the  way  to 
know,  18;  his  yearning  for  the 
sinner,  19 ;  his  effort  to  save  the 
sinner,  19 ;  his  welcome  to  the 
repentant  sinner,  20;  as  judge, 
21 ;  character  of,  22 ;  present  in 
his  world,  23 ;  dwells  in  his 
children,  23. 

Incarnation,  30. 

Isaiah,  120. 

Israel,  16. 

The  Holy  Spirit :  brought  to  view, 
93;  place  of,  in  Christ's  teach- 
ing, 93;  doctrine  of,  not  new, 
94 ;  personality  of,  95 ;  relation 
of,  to  the  Father,  96 ;  relation  of, 
to  the  Son,  97  ;  our  apprehension 
of  Christ  by,  100;  the  apostolic 
teaching  concerning,  101 ;  and 
the  world,  104;  and  the  Chris- 
tian, 106;  the  power  of  Chris- 
tianity, 107. 


James,  12. 

James,  Epistle  of,  79. 


125 


126 


TOPICAL    INDEX 


Jerusalem,  12, 13,  15,  22,  104. 

Jesus  as  teacher,  11. 

John,  12,  120. 

John  the  Baptist,  17,  20,  33,  42,  48' 

56,  61,  79,  86,  120. 
Jordan,  61. 

Joseph  of  Arimathea,  63. 
Judea,  104. 

Knox,  120. 

Kingdom  :  considered,  56  f.  ; 
theme  of  Jesus'  teaching,  55 ; 
origin  of  the  term,  57;  popular 
idea  of,  60;  various  senses  of 
the  word,  60 ;  beginning  of,  62 ; 
character  of,  63 ;  entrance  into, 
67 ;  present  and  future,  70 ; 
gradual  growth  of,  71 ;  perma- 
nence of,  73  ;  final  victory  of,  74  ; 
cosmopolitjin  in  scope,  76. 

Lazarus,  111. 

Marcus  Aurelius,  11. 

Mary,  37. 

Messianic  consciousness  of  Jesus, 

13,  32,  33. 
Moses,  92,  120. 

Nathan,  58. 
Nicodemus,  15,  68. 

Oxyrhynchus  sayings  of  Jesus,  64. 

Palestine,  116. 

Paul,  24,  111,  120. 

Peter,  12,  37,  40,  73,  102,  103,  120. 

Pharisees,  14,  15,  36,  47,  65,  67,  79, 

82  f.,  115. 
Philip,  17,  18,  54,  61. 
Pilate,  67,  69,  70. 

Resurrection,  38. 

Righteousness  :  discussed,  78  f.  ; 
theme  of  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,    79;     significance    of 


Christ's  teaching  about,  80 ;  true, 
contrasted  with  that  of  the 
scribes,  81 ;  of  the  Pharisee, 
82  ;  of  the  Sadducee,  85  ;  Christ's 
conception  of,  86 ;  varying 
standards  of,  91;  our  hope  of 
attaining,  91. 

Sadducees,  47,  85  f. 

Samaria,  104. 

Samaria,  woman  of,  22. 

Satan,  41,  74,  75. 

Saul,  58. 

Scribe,  81. 

Sermon  on  the  Mount,  35,  65,  79  f. 

Sin :  considered,  41  f. ;  theological 
aspects  of,  41 ;  reality  of,  42 ; 
origin  of,  44  ;  nature  of,  45  ;  pen- 
alty of,  49  ;  remedy  for,  51. 

Socrates,  11,  17. 

The  Son  of  Man:  questions  per- 
taining to,  25  f. ;  his  egoism,  25 ; 
pre-incarnate  state  of,  26;  rela- 
tion of,  to  the  Father,  27 ;  divin- 
ity of,  28 ;  connection  of,  with 
mankind,  30;  Messianic  self-con- 
sciousness of,  32 ;  his  conception 
of  his  own  mission,  33  ;  love  for 
the  world  by,  34;  his  attitude 
toward  the  Old  Testament,  35; 
attitude  of,  toward  current  teach- 
ing, 36 ;  knowledge  of,  37 ;  cen- 
tral thought  of,  38. 

Son  of  God,  31. 

Son  of  Man,  31. 

Spurgeon,  120. 

Stalker,  47,  78. 

Thomas,  18. 

Virgin  birth,  27. 

Wordsworth,  26. 

Zacharias,  78. 
Zoroaster,  11. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Adamson,  Studies  in  the  Mind  of 

Christ,  1898. 
James  Robertson,  The  Teaching  of 

Our  Lord,  1900. 
Horton,  The  Teaching  of  Jesus, 

1895. 
G.  B.  Stevens,  The  Teaching  of  Je- 
sus, 1901. 
Wendt,  The  Teaching  of  Jesus, 

1892. 
Jackson,  The  Teaching  of  Jesus, 

1903, 
Moorhouse,  The  Teacliing  of 

Christ,  1891. 
Swete,  Studies  in  the  Teaching  of 

Our  Lord,  1903. 
King,  The  Theologj'  of  Christ,  1903. 
Seeburg,    Das   Evangelien   Christi, 

1905. 
Stubbs,  Verba  Christi,  1903. 
Sanday,  The  Teaching  of  Jesus,  in 

article  Jesus  Christ,  in  Hasting's 

Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  and  in 

Outlines  of  the  Life  of  Christ, 

1905. 
Lancaster,  The  Creed  of   Christ, 

1905. 
Anonymous,  The  Creed  of  Christ, 

1905. 
Tigert,  The  Christianity  of  Christ 

and  His  Apostles,  1905. 
Bosworth,  Studies  in  the  Teaching 

of  Jesus  and  His  Apostles,  1900. 
Speer,  the  Principles  of  Jesus,  1902. 
Stier,  The  Words  of  Jesus,  1869. 
D.  Meyer,  Le  ChristianismeduChrist, 

1883. 


A.  T.  Robertson,  The  Teaching  of 
Jesus  Concerning  God  the 
Father,  1904. 

Crane,  The  Teaching  of  Jesus 
Concerning  the  Holy  Spirit, 
1905. 

Ross,  The  Self-Portraiture  of  Jesus, 
1904. 

Bernard,  The  Central  Teaching  of 
Christ,  1897. 

Stalker,  The  Christology  of  Jesus, 
1899. 

Foster,  The  Teaching  of  Jesus  Con- 
cerning His  Own  Mission,  1903. 

D'Arcy,  Ruling  Ideas  of  our  Lord, 
1901. 

Fairbairn,  The  Place  o'  Christ  in 
Modern  Theology,  1893. 

Gilbert,  The  Revelation  of  Jesus. 
1899. 

Ian  Maclaren,  The  Mind  of  the 
Master,  1896. 

J.  Weiss,  Die  Predigl  Jesu  von 
Reiche,  1892. 

Krop,  La  Pensee  de  Jisus  sur  le 
Royaume  de  Dieu. 

Titius,  Jesu  Lehre  vom  Reiche  Oottes 
1895. 

Schnedermann,  Jesu  Verkundigung 
und  Lehre  vom  Reiche  Gottes  in 
ihrer  geschichtlichen  Bedeutung 
dargestellt.    Bde  /.,  //.,  1895. 

Vos,  The  Teaching  of  Jesus  Con- 
cerning the  Kingdom  and  the 
Church,  1903. 

Mathews,  The  Social  Teaching  of 
Jesus,  1897. 

127 


128 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Heuver,  The  Teaching  of  Jesus 
Concerning  Wealth,  1903. 

Peabody,  Jesus  aud  the  Social 
Question,  1901. 

Haupt,  Die  EschatologUchen  Aus- 
tagen  Jesu  in  den  Synoptischen 
Evangelkn,  1895. 

Muirhead,  The  Eschatology  of  Je- 
sus, 1904. 

Briggs,  The  Ethical  Teaching  of 
Jesus  1904. 

Hermann,  Die  SUtlichen  Weisungen 
Jesu,  1901. 

Grimm,  Die  Ethik  Jesu,  1903. 

Peabody,  Jesus  Christ  and  Chris- 
tian Character,  1905. 

Bachmaun.  Die  Sittenlehre  Jesu, 
1904. 

Fluegel,  Die  Sittenlehre  Jesu,  1888. 

Broadus,  The  Ethical  Teaching  of 
Jesus,  Lecture  II.,  in  Jesus  of 
Nazareth,  1889. 

Zenos,  The  Teaching  of  Jesus 
Concerning  Christian  Conduct, 
1905.1 

Hyde,  Jesus'  Way,  1902. 

Ehrhardt,  Die  Orundcharakter  der 
Ethik  Jesu,  1895. 

Schuerer,  Die  Predigt  Jesu  Christi 
in  ihren  verhdUniss  zum  A.  T.  und 
zum  Judenthum,  1882. 

Bousset,  Jesu'  Predigt  in  ihrer  Oegen- 
satz  zum  Judenthum,  1892. 

Burrell,  The  Teaching  of  Jesus 
Concerning  the  Scriptures,  1904. 

Saphir,  Christ  and  the  Scriptures. 

MacFarland,  Jesus  and  the  Proph- 
ets, 1905. 

Rae,  How  Jesus  Handled  Holy 
Writ,  1902. 

Mead,  Christ  and  Criticism. 

Nicoll,  The  Church's  One  Founda- 
tion, 1905. 


Ellicott,  Christus  Comprobator. 

Bischoff,  Jesas  und  die  Rabbinen 
1905. 

Vaughan,  Characteristics  of 
Christ's  Teaching,  1806. 

Special  books  on  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  by  Augustine  (Trench), 
Boyd-Carpenter,  Genung,  Mack- 
intosh, Tholuck,  Achelis,  Stein- 
meyer,  Heinrici,  Bacon, 
Schenck,  Griffith-Jones,  Grau- 
vert,  Shorthouse,  Votaw  (Hast- 
ings' Dictionary),  Lyttleton,  Ib- 
beken,  H.  Wei.'^s,  Bossuet,  Gore, 
Kaiser,  Monneron,  Harnisch, 
Griillich. 

The  Parables  also  have  received 
frequent  treatment,  as  in  the 
works  of  Drummoud,  Calder- 
wood,  Bruce,  Goebel,  Lisco, 
Trench,  W.  M.  Taylor,  Amot, 
Bourdillon,  Thompson,  Dods, 
Salmond,  Resker,  Tait,  Juel- 
icher,  Steinmeyer,  Habershon, 
Bugge,  Weinel,  Lang,  Buisson, 
Guthrie,  Beyschlag,  Thiersch, 
Tamm,  Freystedt,  Fiebig,  Plum- 
mer  (Hastings'  Dictionary). 

On  the  death  of  Christ  see  : 

Schwartzkopff,  The  Prophecies  of 
Jesus  Christ  Relating  to  His 
Death,  etc.,  1897. 

Babut,  La  Penste  siir  la  Mort,  1897. 

Denney,  The  Death  of  Christ,  1902. 

Hoffmann,  Das  Selbstbevmsstsein 
Jesu,  1904. 

Schuerer,  Das  Messianische  SeJbst- 
bewusstsein  Jesu. 

Baldensperger,  Das  SelbsCbewusst- 
sein  Jesu,  1892. 

See  also  the  various  books  on  Bib- 
lical Theology  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. 


Date  Due 

^1  ^ 

, 

i 

.-^. 

^-^o 

^(// 

FE  1^*53 

*•*** 

'WP^JUb& 

i 

5^Wi*'t 

^pwjipl 

r- 

.-^IBIPW'^ 

($) 

<• 


I 


